


Your smile is a piece of art

by true_lexaddict



Category: Gentleman Jack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ann has shitty relatives, Ann is an artist, Anne doesn't take anybody's shit, Anne enjoys annoying Marian, Anne is the CEO of a big company, Anne x Ann, F/F, Fluff, I can't stop thinking about the Annes and this is how I deal with it, I try to respect the chronology of some events in their early life, Modern AU, There will definitely be fluff, but James is her best friend and is there for her, for now I don't know about the rating but don't think it'll reach M or E, i'm not sure about what i'm doing i hope you don't mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-05-14 03:44:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/true_lexaddict/pseuds/true_lexaddict
Summary: Modern AU where Anne is the CEO of Lister & Co, a famous energy-related company, and Ann is an artist trying to distance herself from her relatives. They already saw each other years ago, but that's when they really meet at a business event that their lives truly become intertwined.Or just me writing everything that comes to my mind when I think about Anne and Ann.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone kind enough to open this fic!  
> This is not my first fanfiction, but it's been a while and it is the first I write in English. I did my best to avoid any mistakes and to put on paper the things I was thinking about.  
> I am absolutely obsessed with Gentleman Jack and this is how I deal with the end of the season...  
> I hope this won't be too painful to read for you and any review would be greatly appreciated, I'd take any advice!
> 
> Flashbacks will be in italic.  
> Thank you Emma (odessasbluecoat on ao3) for your incredible support! ♡
> 
> Hope you enjoy it, kiss from France!

Anne Lister was a well-known woman. A high figure of the feminism as she always fought for women, their rights and so they would be listened to. Of course, she did not brag about it, no. She was much more worthy than that and she knew her value without having to display it like so many people liked to do.

Anne got up from her chair and took a few steps in her office which rose at the highest floor of her company’s building. Lister & Co - yes, very uncommon name for a company but she wasn’t the one to have named it that way - was a famous company working in the energy field. Anne’s ancestor started the company in the 1620s without even naming it when he was exploiting lands for coal back in the day. The company went a long way since the coal exploitation and Anne invested a lot in more renewable energies years back.

The tall woman stopped near the window to take some time to admire the view. After a while, she briefly checked the watch at her wrist. It was a splendid watch, with a leather bracelet and a golden face, which had been offered to her by someone dear to her heart.

* * *

_The two women were lying on the bed, still breathless after making love. Anne slowly raised her hand and stroked her lover’s hair._

_“I love you.” She said in a low voice. “I love you, Mariana.”_

_Mariana opened her eyes and stared at her with passion in her eyes. She smiled, a soft, beautiful smile. “I love you too.” She waited a few seconds before adding : “I have something for you.”_

_Anne detangled her legs from Mariana’s and sat down on the mattress as the other woman reached out to her bedside table. Mariana opened the drawer and took a blue velvet box, definitely too big to just contain a ring like some people would have assumed. She gave it to Anne with a wide smile._

_“I figured you would like it, so I bought it for you.”_

_“Mariana, what…”_

_The words stopped in their track. Anne had opened the box and discovered a beautiful watch inside. She took it between her long and delicate fingers and saw that the metal was engraved with their initials. A wave of warmth went over her chest as she saw the letters and she just looked at Mariana in awe._

_“Mariana, it’s beautiful. Thank you.”_

* * *

 Anne’s eyes lingered a little bit longer on the beautiful piece of jewelry and she felt the usual heartache that always came when she did so. Despite all the pain this woman had brought in her life, she had also been the reason for most of the joy she once felt. Anne just couldn’t get rid of this watch and all it represented. She pouted just for a second before putting her hand in her trousers’ pocket. _No time for all of that, I have somewhere to be_ , she thought.

The CEO took her blazer and put it on before grabbing her purse. When she stormed out of her office, she barely stopped at her assistant’s office and just announced : “Eugénie, we’re going, now is the perfect time to get to the gallery.”.

Eugénie rapidly got up and closed her computer while taking her coat to put over the dress she had been wearing in anticipation of the evening to come. “I’m right behind you, madame.” She said with her French accent, still pretty audible despite the fact that she had been living in England for a while.

The car stopped in front of the gallery and Anne took the time to thank her chauffeur. She then opened the door, not waiting for someone to do it for her - her chauffeur actually knew better than try to do so - and stepped out of the vehicle. As soon as her foot hit the ground, journalists were already taking photos of her and started to call her name to gain her attention. The brunette took a second to wave and briefly exchanged some words with some of them before entering the building which was hosting a business event.

 

 

Ann was standing next to her sister and brother-in-law, carefully listening to the business talk between the man and one of his associates. Well, she mostly made it seem like she was carefully listening since she was actually quite bored. The blonde lady wasn’t particularly fond of these meetings, but it was part of her duty to appear here. She had already shirked too many similar events and her brother-in-law, George Sutherland, didn’t like it very much. Ann was ashamed to admit that the man was sometimes scaring her and she didn’t want to be on his bad side. At least, the meeting was taking place in one of the places that were the dearest to her heart, the gallery in which she exposed her pieces and she knew that she could always wander in the hall to see other artists’ work even if she already saw it numerous times.

She absent-mindedly shook her head and used her hand to put behind her ear a small strand of hair that had escaped her braid. The artist was wearing an elegant lilac dress that suited her very well, hugging her in all the right places but staying very professional. She heard a raise in the voices in the huge room and saw that everyone turned to the main entrance. Ann tried to see who caused all of this but it was hard to see anything but the shoulders of all the business men that had gathered here. It took her a few minutes but then she saw the person that everyone was now talking about : Anne Lister.

The blonde felt a smile appear at her lips when she saw her. Of course she had already seen the famous lady : on magazine's cover, on online or paper articles. She even saw her in person once, years back, when Anne Lister came in their home after Ann’s mother passed away. Ann would never forget how strange she felt that day. Despite her grief and fragile state, warmth had gone through her whole body and she was still certain that her cheeks had reddened. Her heart had started to beat so fast in her chest that she could have swore her sister had looked at her with annoyed eyes. Seeing Anne again had been something Ann almost craved. She clearly didn't expect it would happen that day, but here she was, in her gallery - well, sort of - surrounded by the elite of England, staring at this dark-haired strong and independent woman. She truly wished she would find the opportunity to engage a conversation with Anne before the event ended.

 

Ann was growing tired of this evening. The conversations weren’t very interesting to her so she wasn’t paying attention, her mind kept wandering here and there. And her eyes kept scanning the room in hope to see Anne close, even though it was harder and harder to find her in the crowd. After a while, Ann stopped looking for the brunette and chose instead to turn her eyes to the paintings on the wall. She almost knew all of them by heart given the time she had spent within these walls, carefully watching every detail of the canvas exhibited in the gallery. Yet, she still liked to watch them and to pay attention to the details. Thus, she didn’t hear the footsteps near her and she was startled when a voice raised near her.

“Those are truly beautiful.”

When the artist turned her head, she couldn’t believe her eyes. The very woman she had tried to see for hours was standing right next to her. Her heartbeat became almost erratic but Ann knew it was only because she was surprised. Right?

“Good evening, Miss...Walker, right?”

“Y-yes that’s me, but please, call me Ann.” She managed to answer in a small voice. Why was it so hard to speak louder?

“Alright, Ann it is, then.” Anne replied with a smile, letting her eyes go up and down Ann’s body. She extended her hand towards the younger woman and then looked directly at her eyes. “I’m Anne Lister.”

Before Ann could even think, she was taking the hand presented to her and was amazed at the softness she found here. She barely could think, especially since her skin had come in contact with the other woman’s. It took her a few seconds before she could register than she had to say something.

“I know who you are, miss Lister. Of course. Doesn’t everybody?” Ann said with a small chuckle. She was feeling nervous. Why was she feeling nervous?

“I like to think that some people don’t know me. Otherwise, everyone expects something when we meet. Oh and by the way, please call me Anne.”

“We already have met, miss L… Sorry, Anne. A few years ago, you came at Crow Nest, to see my siblings and me. We didn’t talk, you were mostly with Elizabeth, but…”

“Of course.” Anne interrupted her with a soft voice. “I didn’t forget. How could I forget someone like you?”

Ann suddenly felt heat reach her cheeks and she felt like spotlights had been turned right to her face. She opened slightly her mouth to try and say something but strangely, nothing came out of that mouth. It was like her brain had short-circuited. _Did she just…_

“Oh by the way, I saw some of your works in here. They’re delightful. You have such talent.”

Anne’s voice was clear and yet she was speaking quite fast. She strongly emphasized the word “delightful” as she stared in the younger lady’s blue eyes. Ann knew that her cheeks had to be redder than they had ever been. She managed to smile, one of those beautiful smiles than came from her heart, because she was truly touched that Anne said such a compliment to her. “Thank you, Anne. You’re too kind.”

“In this case, I only speak the truth.” Anne added with a bright smile.

“You flatter me.” The blonde almost whispered, still pretty flustered about the compliment she had just received from a woman she highly thought of.

Ann was very eager to keep talking with the taller woman, because she had always wanted to truly meet her in other circumstances than the last time. Yet at the same time, she felt somehow intimidated by Anne because she was older and someone more important than her. _It’s a miracle she even came to talk to me, I should be satisfied by that and stop complaining._

They fell into a silence that was surprisingly confortable. Both women kept looking at the painting in front of them. However, Ann didn’t notice, maybe it was because she herself just stared at the wall to fight the urge to avert her eyes toward the woman next to her, that the brunette was sometimes looking right at her.

* * *

  _“What do you mean, you’re going to marry him?”_

_The pain was strong in Anne’s voice. She felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest but she somehow managed to hold her tears back. She got up from the bed where she had been lying against Mariana for several minutes. She adjusted the tank top she was wearing and looked at the other woman with utter hurt in her eyes._

_“You know exactly what I mean. It's all about politics and you know, money. My father wants Lawton's money support for his career as congressman or something.”_

_“It's the 21st century, Mariana, for God's sake!”_

_Anne's voice broke on the last words. A strong feeling of deception was slowly making its way in her chest, leaving everything in ashes in its path._

_“Look Anne, it's not against you. If I could, I would marry you.” Mariana calmly replied, now sitting on the bed instead of lying._

_Anne turned around to go look for her jacket and plunged her hand inside the pocket. Her fingers grasped a small box and she showed it to Mariana while almost running to her lover._

_“Then do it. Please, do it. I have everything and we would be happy. We could be happy, you and me.” She started to beg even though she hated it._

_“Oh Anne. I told you I can't. Don't do that to yourself.”_

_At the words, a wave of anger washed over the young CEO of Lister & Co. She knew how to take care of herself and didn't need the traitor - because it felt like the utmost betrayal - to tell her what she had to do or not for herself. _

_“You are doing this to me, I'm not the one doing it. Making empty promises, lying and then crushing everything that we have built together.”_

_“Look, you have every right to be angry, but I told you specifically when we first starting seeing each other than you should not get your hopes up so much.”_

_“Get out.” Anne whispered with a lump in her throat._

_“What?”_

_“I said. Get. Out.”_

_Her voice was low and angry. She turned around to avert her eyes so she didn’t have to look at Mariana while she got up from the bed and took back her stuff. Anne could feel that Mariana wanted to say something so she spoke first, without looking away from the window._

_“I will send all of your belongings to your place. Don’t come back here.”_

* * *

Anne eventually checked her watch and saw that she had spent way more time she had thought in Ann’s company. Her eyes lingered on the face of her watch, which kept bringing back painful memory. Nonetheless, Anne had kept the watch. She even kept wearing it, because she felt like the pain it created was a reminder that betrayal always came from the closest people.

She opened her mouth to say something to the younger lady still standing next to her but was interrupted by a man, Christopher Rawson she presumed, who seemed eager to discuss business with her. She barely had the opportunity to say goodbye to Ann before she was taken into a conversation, not far from where she was standing minutes ago. From what she saw, Ann seemed really upset at the sight of Christopher Rawson, but she was not sure she had seen it right.

Unfortunately, she had to pay attention to what the older Rawson man was telling her because she knew he would do anything to get an easy deal with her, because she was a woman. _What a misogynistic piece of garbage_ , she thought while keeping a blank face.

“Let me be very clear, Mr. Rawson. I am not, nor will I ever, sell you the site you are talking about, whatever you are offering me.”

“Oh really?” The man said in a condescending voice.

“Yes, _really_.” Anne answered mirroring his expression. “I don't trust you, I don't trust anything about your company and I won't let you get my lands. Now, if you'll excuse me.”

That way, Anne put an end to the conversation and got away from Christopher Rawson. When she looked towards the painting she had been watching with Ann, she couldn't find the younger woman. She spent a few minutes trying to find Ann again, but she was nowhere to be seen. Anne had to come to terms with the fact that she probably wouldn't see the pretty blonde again that evening.

Anne woke up early the day after. It was Saturday and even though most people would have taken the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in bed, but she liked getting up early and taking some time for herself. After a quick shower and some cooking, she sat at the table in front of the patio door. Anne’s house was impressive because of its size, especially for something that close to the city. It had been bought by her grandfather and she had inherited it at his passing since neither her father nor her sister had wanted it.

She turned on her tablet and used it to read some news. She saw a few articles about the business event of the day before so she briefly read them but didn’t find anything remotely interesting. While eating her breakfast, her mind started to wander. One face kept crashing into her thoughts. _Ann Walker_. What a vision she had been, with her lilac dress and her golden curls brought back together in a braid.

Anne took a sip of her morning tea. She put down the cup slowly as she reached out to her tablet to start typing. She felt like she needed to learn more about the pretty blonde she had talked to the night before.

“ _The youngest Walker girl and how she thrives thanks to her family’s money_ ” She read. Anne couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the journalist who wrote that. “Nonsense. I am certain she is working hard and not just using her family’s fortune.”

She kept scrolling through the articles she saw about this Miss Walker until a particular one caught her eye. She stopped scrolling and stared at the picture of Ann that had been added to the top of the article. Sun was lighting up her blonde hair that was shining like gold. The curls had been put over her shoulder and it was really bringing out her beautiful neck. And that smile. Anne had difficulties to look away from her smile. _It’s just a picture, get over yourself Anne_.

* * *

“Finally you’re here !”

Anne could hear Marian’s voice before she could actually see her younger sister. She just entered the family’s dwelling, Shibden Hall, a huge house, by far larger than Anne’s house, that had been in the family for centuries. It had been recently entirely renovated under Anne’s attentive gaze. Her father, her aunt and her sister all lived there and most of the people working for the Lister’s family had their own bedrooms and bathrooms inside the building.

The brunette let Joseph, a young man working for the family, take her coat and she saw Marian coming at her like a storm, as always.

“We have been waiting for you, how come you are always late?” Anne’s sister was almost shouting in a very high-pitched voice.

“Because, Marian, I had things to do before coming. Now that it has been taken care of, I can be here, with all of you. And good morning to you too, Marian.” Anne responded calmly despite her annoyance. She loved her sister, she truly did even though she didn’t let it show often, but sometimes Marian was just getting on her nerves.

The two sisters went through the hallway and entered the huge dining room in which their aunt Anne and their father Jeremy were waiting for them. Anne smiled when she saw her family as it always filled her with tenderness to see the old siblings.

“Good morning to the both of you.”

“Anne, I’m so glad you are here!” Her aunt spoke with a happy voice.

“See, Marian, that is how you greet your sister when she arrives.” Anne added with a smirk towards her sister.

She went near the older woman first and kissed her cheek, then did the same to her father. The brunette then slowly made her way to her own chair that was waiting for her, not without a grin addressed to Marian who was looking at her with a slightly offended face. It was always hilarious how Marian reacted to every interaction with her sister.

“So, Anne, tell us about what happened to you for the last two weeks since we last saw each other.” Jeremy said while the Lister family’s staff started to bring the plates for the lunch.

“Straight to business, right?” The oldest sister smiled and picked up her wine glass. She started to tell about her last two weeks, while slowly rubbing the glass with her middle finger as she always did.

A cool breeze started to slightly whip up the papers that were displayed on Ann’s desk. The light-haired woman raised her head and looked at the open window. A small sigh escaped her lips when she got up from her chair et went to close the window. It took her a few minutes to pick up everything that had fallen on the ground and to reorganize everything on her desk. Ann checked the clock hanging on the wall, then the weather on the outside. _Well, looks like I have time to go for a walk._

Thirty minutes later, Ann stepped outside and closed the front door of her apartment block. It was an amazing day in Halifax, just the right temperature for Ann, a little fresh, so she wouldn’t feel like she was melting, but the sun was still shining. A book in her hand, she started to go down the street.

The blonde woman was enjoying her walk in rather small streets that were not as busy as the major avenues. The spring sun felt good on her face and she liked how she had to slightly squint when she was facing the sun. Ann stopped at a small coffee shop, the one she was used to go to for years. There, she bought her usual red berries tea and took some time to chat with the waitress whom she had grown used to see almost everyday.

Without realizing it, Ann could be a real ray of sunshine for the people surrounding her. She was always smiling and sweet and really cared for other people’s feelings, which was uncommon these days.

Going back outside, the artist went back to her walk. After a few minutes, she saw the trees of the park where she was planning to go. A small smile illuminated her face as she was eager to sit on her favorite bench, under a tree and near a fountain, so she could read her book there.

She was almost in the park when she saw a young man selling newspapers. Usually, it wouldn’t really have caught her eye, but she got a glimpse of a familiar figure. She stopped in front of the newspapers’ seller and looked at the front page where there was a coloured portrait of Anne Lister. Ann took her purse and gave money to the young man to get her copy of the newspaper. She thanked him with one of her beautiful smiles and entered the park, stopping only when she reached her usual bench. There, she carefully put down her paper cup of tea and her book nearby and looked more closely to the front page of the newspaper she had just bought.

On the picture, Anne Lister’s face was very serious. However, Ann did sense a small smile hiding behind her mask. She felt a smile rising as she started to read the article about this mysterious yet very appealing woman. The blonde woman jumped when she heard next to her the voice of someone she had not heard approach.

“Good afternoon, Ann. I knew I was going to find you here.”

When Ann looked up she saw her long-time friend, James Mackenzie. The man, who was a few years older than her, was the son of the former Walker family’s maid and he had always been around when Ann was growing up. Ann being her usual, she had always spent time with James and he had turned to be almost like a big brother to her. He had supported her countless times since they were children and the young woman felt happy whenever she saw him.

“James, you’re here, I’m so glad!” She put down the newspaper and got to her feet to hug the brown-haired man who then sat next to her.

“It’s been a while. How are you doing, Annie?” James asked, with a big smile.

“I’m good. Just enjoying this gorgeous afternoon as you can see. How are you? I wanted to see you but it has been so complicated lately.”

“I know, I had so many things to do. I’m sorry I haven’t been here, oh and I’m fine by the way.”

James took a look at the book that was still on the bench, but then noticed the newspaper than Ann was still clutching in her hands. He raised an eyebrow and Ann was worried that she might have been blushing.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you reading the newspaper here, even though the man selling them has always been right in front of the park.”

“Oh I don’t know, something caught my eye, I guess.” She almost whispered, slightly embarrassed.

“Something like… Miss Anne Lister?”

Ann cleared her throat and turned the newspaper so the intense gaze of the woman on the front page would stop fixing her. Did the temperature rise a few degrees or was it her?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I was… very… interested by the article about… the new tech that has been released.”

“The new tech that has been released, yeah sure.” James responded with a knowing smile. Ann had never been interested in any sort of tech. She barely even used her phone, something that he had always kindly made fun of.

For a while, they just stayed silent, enjoying each other’s presence and watching the fountain in front of them. It was something they were used to do and it was nice to fall back into that habit. The noises of the city were absorbed by the trees and Ann could only hear the lapping of the fountain, the wind in the leaves and the laughs of some children nearby. She really felt at peace in this place, not pressured by her relatives who saw her as a disappointment because she chose to become an artist rather than having a “successful career” as they liked to remind her during every family reunion. Ann was sure that if her parents were still alive, they would never judge her like her other relatives did.

“James, I wanted to ask you something.” Ann said after a few minutes. She turned to look at her best friend.

“Shoot, I’m listening.” He smiled and crossed his legs.

“Next week, in the gallery, there will be a new exhibition. And I am going to expose new works there and I would really love if you could come at the opening of the event.”

“Annie. How many times do I have to tell you that? Of course I’ll come, you don’t have to ask. Just tell me when and where and I will be there. I’ll even pick you up at your place if you want me to.”

“Thank you James, it would mean the world to me.”

The young woman came closer to the brown-haired man and put her arms around his neck to hug him. She was feeling extremely lucky to have such a wonderful friend in her life. Someone who was not interested in her money, her family, her talent, but only for who she truly was.

* * *

_It felt like a torture for Ann. Everything was hurting. She had just lost her mother, barely a few months after her father’s death, the year she had turned 20. Everything around her was falling apart. Of course, she still had her older sister Elizabeth and her younger brother John, who liked to go as Jay since he had the same name as their father. But Ann had always been so close to her mother Mary, it was hard to take._

_A big table had been set in the biggest room of their family manor, after the ceremony at the cemetery. Ann hated it, having these relatives inside their home. The people that came didn’t really care about the three Walker children that had lost their parents. They only cared about John and Mary’s will, hoping that they would get something. Ann knew that her relatives, the ones who liked to call themselves family only when it served their own wishes, were here to show “support” to gain their favors._

_Ann was keeping her head low and wasn’t really paying attention to everything that was being said around her. Her heart was pounding fast inside her chest, she could almost feel it in her head._

_“So, I guess you will be staying here at Crow Nest, right?”_

_“What are you going to do now?”_

_“And I was thinking about these building your father owned in the city. What will happen to it?”_

_“Elizabeth, I have a little favor to ask you.”_

_“Tell me Ann, what are you planning to do with everything that you just got?”_

_All those voices tumbled out inside Ann’s head, she felt like people were screaming at her, so she closed her eyes, pressing her eyelids tightly together. Tears escaped her eyes just as they closed and Ann could feel them roll on her cheeks that had seen way too many tears in the past months._

_Ann jumped on her feet when a hand landed on her shoulders, she didn’t notice it was Jay’s. She ran out of the room, her vision blurred by tears. She could hear someone - she could swear it was Christopher Rawson, a horrible man who married one of Ann’s older cousins - say : “I see that this one is still going crazy.” and laugh. She stormed out of the manor and shut the door behind her, and she went to take shelter under the biggest tree of the garden. She dropped in the grass and put her back against the trunk while clasping her legs between her arms. A sob escaped her lips as she rested her chin on her knees. The usual pain came back along her backbone, something she had had since she was a child but which became stronger in the past few months._ This is so unfair _, she thought._ Life is so unfair _._

_She had no idea how much time she stayed there, sitting on the ground in her black dress, crying her eyes out. The braid in her hair had lost her original beauty as Ann had tugged on her golden locks between sobs. After a while, she heard footsteps approaching her but didn’t bother raising her head. Then, she heard a familiar voice, one she hadn’t dared to hope hearing._

_“Hey Annie, can I sit here?”_

_Anne couldn’t trust her voice so she just nodded and watched as James sat next to her. He slowly took her hand and when he saw that she didn’t back off, he went for a hug and stroked her hair. “I’m here. I’m with you.”_

* * *

After spending part of the afternoon with together, Ann and James both went separate ways. The blonde woman truly had an amazing time in the park with her best friend and she was feeling hopeful for the future, something she wasn’t very used to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a new exhibition at the gallery, where Ann is very proud to see some of her work. She didn't expect to see one particular woman again so soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, here is the second chapter of this fanfic !  
> First of all, thank you so much for reading the first one, for leaving kuddos and for reviewing, it really amazed me to have such a positive feedback. I was moved to tears. I love this fandom so much !
> 
> Once again, I thank odessasbluecoat for her support <3
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at @true-lexaddict
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it. A la prochaine ;)

Ann couldn’t tell if she was excited or terrified. Maybe it was a little of both. Or a lot of both. The gallery would be opening soon for the new special exhibition and as always, it worried her to no end. James had tried to calm her and talk to her, saying that she needed to trust herself and that what mattered was that she was happy with what she had accomplished. However, years of being belittled by her cousins, distant cousins or other relatives had completely shattered Ann’s self-confidence and it had been hard for her to pick herself up. Something she still hadn’t finished.

Her reflection in the mirror was staring back at her. She let her eyes drop, scanning her face, her neck and then the rest of her body. A small sigh escaped her lips as Ann finished brushing her wavy golden locks. She grabbed her earings and carefully put them on, checking herself one last time.  _ That will do _ , she thought. She was wearing a pale pink dress that highlighted her complexion, her blonde hair cascading over her shoulder.

The doorbell rang just as Ann was coming out of her bedroom with her coat and her purse. She smiled when she opened the door to James.

“Good afternoon James. You’re right on time, as always!” She said with a chuckle, hugging him.

“You know for a fact that I am never late, miss Walker.”

“Oh please James, you know how much I hate it when you call me that.” She pouted and closed her front door.

“I know and I like to annoy you a little bit.” James whispered, leaning toward her.

Ann playfully hit his arm and started laughing. James was happy to see he succeeded in that mission, since he knew how stressed Ann usually was before an exhibition opening. He followed the blonde woman when she went down the stairs and then opened the door for her to go out in the street.

* * *

It didn’t take them long to arrive at the gallery. There were already people waiting outside the building to get their tickets to enter and that warmed Ann’s heart. She was still feeling a little nervous as she always was when people were going to see her art, but The both of them proceeded to the entrance and went inside after Ann had shown her identity papers.

“So, I’m really hoping I’m going to get the best anecdotes about your works. I am totally here for it.” James told her very seriously but Ann could see the smile behind her eyes, so she smiled herself.

“Alright then, you are going to learn everything about it.”

The young woman went through the entrance hall, arm in arm with her best friend, then in the part of the building that had been chosen for the exhibition. She blushed a little when James showed her proudly how her name was written in big letters on the exhibition banner. Ann couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met someone like James in her life and she often felt like she didn’t deserve this amazing relationship.

“Stop it, James !” She whispered with an embarrassed laugh.

“You should be proud of everything that you’ve accomplished. I am very proud of you, Annie.” James told her while slowly patting her arm.

Those words generated a wave of happiness for Ann and she couldn’t help but smile brightly. Before showing her pieces to James, Ann really wanted to watch the other canvas and sculptures that had been exhibited in the gallery for this event, whose subject was “freedom”. She was satisfied with what she had accomplished for the exhibition but what she was finding more interesting in these events was the opportunity to see new pieces and to discover other artists.

“Oh James, look at how beautiful this is.” The admiration was clear in Ann’s voice as she stopped in front an eagle statue that looked very much alive.

“You’d expect it to turn its head and look at you, like right now. That’s amazing.” Her friend agreed, putting his hands in his pants’ pockets since Ann had dropped his arm.

The artist took her time to observe and study all of the art pieces displayed in the room. She was at peace in this place, it sometimes felt closer to home than her actual apartment. After a while, and after losing James without noticing it, she stopped in front of a painting, very beautifully done. But regardless of how pretty the art looked, it triggered a sense of melancholy in the blonde woman. It showed a family, probably in a park, having a good time in the sun. A man who Ann supposed was the father was throwing a child in the air, child who was laughing in the process. Three girls were playing in the grass, beaming with their golden hair. A woman was sitting against a tree, a book in her hands. 

The painting was truly beautiful but what particularly hit Ann was how it reminded her of her family. The boy, apparently the youngest amongst the siblings, could have been Jay.  _ Oh my God, Jay _ , she thought. Her younger brother had lost his life in Naples, Italy, two years earlier, at the age of twenty-six. He was there with his girlfriend for vacation and never came home because of a jeweler’s robbery that went wrong. Ann had been devastated at his death which only left Elizabeth as her immediate family.

When Ann was looking at the three girls, she could almost see Mary, Elizabeth and herself. Mary was the oldest Walker child and had the same name as their mother. She used to be four years older than Ann, but she lost her life at sixteen in an accident because of some maniac who ignored a red light and hit Mary as she was crossing the street. Ann was twelve when she first experienced mourning and it didn’t go very well for her as her parents had to withdraw her from school for a few months.

 

* * *

  

_ “It has been very hard for all of us, but I think that Ann has been more affected than what we initially thought.” _

_ The voices were muffled through the closed door of the headteacher’s office. Ann was sitting on a chair, opposite the door. Her expression was blank and even if her eyes were directed at the wall, she wasn’t really looking at it. The young girl jumped when something fell in the office next door, so she went to sit on the ground, in the corner of the corridor. Her whole body was shaking after the sudden noise and she pressed her hands on her ears while closing firmly her eyes. It took her a few minutes of focusing on her heartbeat to calm her and she slowly removed her hands from her head, to wrap her arms around her knees. _

_ “She doesn’t talk at all at school. Her teachers told me that she doesn’t answer when they call her name. They don’t even know if she ignores them or if she just does not hear them.” Ann heard the headteacher say. _

_ The blonde girl was still on the ground when the door finally opened.  _

_ “I guess some time away from the school will do her good.” The headteacher said, shaking John’ and Mary’s hands. Ann had no idea how much time had passed since she had been left alone in the hallway. Suddenly, she heard that her mother stopped talking, as she had probably noticed her daughter on the floor. _

_ “Oh Ann sweetie.” Her mother said while squatting down next to Ann. She took her in her arms and slowly stroked her hair. “It’s ok, baby. You are going to be alright.” She whispered in her ear. _

 

* * *

  

Ann closed her eyes, already feeling tears swirling under her eyelids. Her heartbeat was speeding up and she felt like oxygen couldn’t reach her lungs. Her mouth opened, looking for air, and Ann tried to grab James’ arm because he always knew how to help her get through this. As she couldn’t find him anywhere near her, she opened her eyes, one tear rolling on her left cheek.

She jumped when a hand came to take hers and she was surprised to see a familiar figure in front of her, but definitely not James. Anne Lister, the Anne Lister, had suddenly appeared next to her and had taken her hand. Ann blinked a few times, which only let more tears escape.

“Come outside with me, Ann. Some fresh air will do you good.”

Her voice was soft and there wasn’t any judgment on her features, that’s probably what made Ann follow her outside, away from the crowd inside the gallery. As soon as the blonde woman stepped outside, her chest felt less constricted and the outside air did ease her. She took a long shaky breath, which helped her calm down a bit. With her free hand, she carefully wiped her cheeks, and then took some time to make sure she was more at peace. A few minutes passed before she was finally able to breathe calmly and her heart had stopped pounding in her chest.

After that, she looked at Anne who turned her head to meet her eyes. Ann released Anne’s hand, feeling ashamed about what happened and let her gaze drop.

“I- I am so sorry, Miss Li- Anne I mean, I just…”

“You don’t have to be sorry, dear.” Her voice was low, calm and steady. It helped Ann to anchor herself in the present.

She let out another shaky breath, claiming more minutes to ease the tension her body had been put through.

“Thank you for… helping me. It means a lot.” She finally whispered as she didn’t trust her voice if she tried to speak louder.

“You’re very welcome, Ann. Tell me if you need anything.” Anne’s voice was so soothing.

“Right now, I would just like to spend some more time here, and then go back inside.”

The brown-haired woman just nodded and smiled. When a waiter passed nearby, she asked for a glass of water. When she got it, she went back to Ann and gave it to the younger woman. “There you go.”

Ann thanked her and took a swallow of water, already feeling better. She forced herself to stop thinking about her lost family and how she had always thought when she was younger that the Walkers had been cursed, which would have explained why everybody around her was dying.

After a while, she had no idea how much time, Ann was feeling ready to go back to the exhibition. She gave back her glass to a waitress and smiled when she looked back at Anne.

“Would you like to go back inside with me?” She asked, her voice stronger than it had been earlier.

“I was hoping you’d ask.” Anne replied with a small smile. She linked her hands in her back and passed the door with the artist who seemed better.

“Annie, you’re here, I was looking for you!”

Ann barely had the time to register the voice when James went to her. She blinked a few times and then saw the face of her best friend.

“Sorry James, I didn’t mean to worry you. I had to go get some fresh air and Anne here was kind enough to accompany me.” Ann said, feeling a lot better.

Ann saw that James had just noticed the woman who was standing next to her and she smiled when Anne extended her hand to him.

“Good afternoon, I’m Anne Lister.” Her voice was clear and had something that Ann couldn’t put a finger on.

“It’s an honor to meet you, my name is James Mackenzie.” The man said, taking her hand. Ann could see in his eyes that he was impressed by the firm grip he found there.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Ann’s eyes went from one to the other and she kept smiling. She put a strand of hair behind her ear and joined her hands in front of her, noticing that Anne looked at her for a second.

“Right, so… I’m gonna leave you two to it, I wouldn’t want to bother you.” James quickly said with a knowing smile on his face.

“What, no James…” Ann started, not understanding why her best friend would leave her like that.

“Mr. Mackenzie, really I don’t want to shorten your time together.” Anne spoke and glanced at Ann again.

“Don’t worry about it, I have seen an acquaintance of mine over there. I’ll see you later, Ann.”

After that, he gave the blonde woman a knowing look but she couldn’t tell what it meant. She raised her eyebrows, still trying to understand why he would leave her.

“So, Ann, I saw your name on the exhibition banner. I was looking forward to see your pieces.” Anne told her with a smile, tilting her head toward the younger woman.

Ann could feel the heat reaching her face and she knew her neck had reddened, probably as well as her cheeks.

“Oh my… I hope your expectations are not too high, I wouldn’t want you to be disappointed because of me.” Ann said, looking at her feet and feeling flustered.

“I don’t think you could ever disappoint me. Don’t have such a poor opinion of yourself.”

Ann could tell that her whole face was red now and she didn’t trust herself to answer intelligibly, so she just laughed nervously and waved to the dark-haired woman so she would follow her.

 

* * *

 

 Anne was standing in front of one of Ann Walker’s paintings. It was beautiful, she could tell that the artist had such a great talent. _I don’t get why the poor girl is so insecure about her own abilities._

The CEO looked at Ann who was right next to her, explaining the meaning of the painting which showed a nestling flying from the nest for the first time. As much as Anne liked the painting, she enjoyed looking at the painter more. She noticed the way Ann’s eyes were shining as she was talking about her art. A smile slowly made its way to her face.

She had been right to come to this exhibition.

 

* * *

 

  _The day before the exhibition opening, Anne was just finishing a meeting. She shook hands with the few people that came into her office and watched as they were leaving._ That was interesting _, she thought._

_ Anne went into Eugénie’s office and saw that she was finishing a report on her laptop, just typing the last words of it. _

_ “Good evening, madame. Do you need anything?” The French woman asked with a smile. _

_ “Nothing specific.” She answered. “I just went to see how you were doing since you’re here late.” _

_ “I just finished the report about your presentation from yesterday. I wanted to be done with it so you could have it.” _

_ “Great work, I’ll read it first thing on Monday morning. Thank you, Eugénie.” Anne said, with a smile. _

_ She stayed silent for a while, looking at the window. She then turned to her assistant and crossed her arms when Eugénie started talking. _

_ “There is this new exhibition in a gallery this week-end. I figured you would be interested to know that Ann Walker will be participating in the event.” _

_ Anne raised her eyebrows at the comment about her interest. She saw Eugénie hide a small smile but didn’t say anything against it. _

_ “That’s good to know. Thank you, Eugénie.” _

_ “You’re welcome, Madame.” Eugénie said with a smile. She turned off her computer after finishing her report and sending it to Anne’s computer. _

_ After wishing her assistant a good weekend, Anne went back into her office. She finished some of her business and then started to wander on the internet. She ended up on the gallery’s website and saw the news about the exhibition.  _

_ “The theme is Freedom.” She whispered. “That’s interesting.” _

_ She looked at the online banner about the event and obviously noticed one particular name. Anne put her elbow on her desk and slowly touched her chin with her thumb, lost in her thoughts. She was thinking about the younger woman whom she had really met a few days earlier. Ann had this smile, it was dazzling. It hit Anne when she first saw the artist smile ; it was like seeing this gorgeous blonde woman smile was bringing joy into her own life. _

_ Anne couldn’t tell how much time she spent daydreaming about Ann Walker, but one thing was certain for her : she would be going to the exhibition on the weekend. _

 

* * *

 

 “...And that’s it, I truly believe that this is what the painter wanted to show in this particular image with these specifics colors.” Ann’s voice was passionate as she was talking about art and Anne had really appreciated every comments she had made.

Anne finally noticed that there were fewer people in the gallery. She had been listening to Ann’s talking about the paintings for a while, finally really paying attention to what she was saying. It had been truly enriching to learn about what had crossed Ann’s mind while she had been painting her pieces. Her comments on the exhibited paintings had been clear and made a lot of sense to Anne who enjoyed this time spent together.

“I believe the gallery will close soon.” Anne said in a low voice. She checked her watch, which proved her right.

“What? Really?”

Ann’s voice came out a little stronger than she wanted to. Anne noticed a slight blush on her cheekbones and smiled.

“Time goes by so quickly.” She murmured.

“It really does. I- I hope I haven’t disturbed you with all of my comments.” Ann joined her hands and seemed embarrassed.

“You could never disturb me, Ann.”

Anne could see that her comment made the younger woman blush and that she seemed flustered. She smiled even more and put her hand in the small of her back. She felt the heat of Ann’s body under her fingers.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave soon. It saddens me though.”

Ann appeared to be disappointed at that statement, her eyes dropped to the floor for a second. Anne looked right into her azure irises and felt like she was staring at the sky.

“Right. It is getting late and you’re probably very busy.”

“For someone like you, I would definitely make sure I’m not that busy.”

There was something about teasing Ann that made the brunette want to do it every now and then. She stared into Ann’s blue eyes until the younger woman diverted her eyes.

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Ann. I hope we will see each other soon.”

She extended her hand to the blonde woman, and when Ann went to shake it, Anne took it with an extreme tenderness and raised it so she could lay a kiss on the back of her hand. She looked at Ann in the eye as her lips made contact with the pale skin.

Anne didn’t let it show, but her own heart was beating quite fast as she did so. How could a woman be as beautiful as Ann was and fluster her that way?

 

* * *

 

Ann couldn’t look away from Anne as she left the building. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt like the oxygen she was breathing couldn’t reach her brain. The thoughts were tumbling inside her head but Ann felt like these thoughts were not completely formed. She couldn’t put words on anything she was thinking and feeling.

The blonde was so flustered she did not notice that James had reached her side. She jumped when he started to talk to her and she could feel that her heart had missed a few beats.

“So I guess you had a good time, Annie.”

“Holy- James! You scared me!” She almost screamed, getting bad looks from the few people that were still in the building. The blonde looked at them apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

James took Ann’s arm and started to make his way toward the exit. When they stepped outside, he took a close look at his best friend, which Ann didn’t notice.

The blonde was feeling agitated. She felt like her hand was burning, right where Anne’s lips had made contact with her skin. She barely registered that they had left the gallery as she was completely lost in thoughts. She jumped when James patted her arm.

“Ann, you there?” He laughed quietly.

“What, oh sorry James. I didn’t mean to… zone out like that.” She whispered, feeling guilty to have ignored her best friend.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing. My feelings are just a little bit hurt, you know. And you didn’t even tell me about the anecdotes behind the paintings.”

Ann looked at him in horror, until she saw his smile and knew that, of course, he was joking. She laughed a little, a beautiful and pure laugh, and leaned on James for a second. Despite knowing he was joking and that he would not hate her for that, she still felt a little guilty.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even spend that much time with you here. I’m awful.”

“You’re not awful Ann, you’re the sweetest person I know.” James said with a smile, dramatically rolling his eyes.

Ann blushed a little and stayed silent after the comment, looking at her feet as they were walking down the street.

“So. Tell me.” James spoke after a few minutes.

“Hm, tell you what?”

“How was your time with the beautiful Anne Lister?”

Ann suddenly blushed furiously at those words and she unintentionally started to walk faster. It made James smile even more but he didn’t comment on her pace.

“It… It was very interesting. She… She really helped me, you know. I started to have this panic attack and I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you and then she was there. At the right time.”

She was talking fast with almost a high-pitched voice, her stressed voice. Her free hand was gesturing in the air as she was speaking.

“She helped me calm down, she didn’t ask, she was just...there.” Ann stopped talking just for a few seconds to catch her breath. “And then, she wanted to stay with me to look at the art pieces and she listened to me while I was waffling about it. Oh dear, she must have found me boring!”

There was some distress in Ann’s voice as she told the last sentence. She put her hand on her own cheek, feeling embarrassed. James made her stop walking and Ann just noticed that they had reached her block of flats. He took her hands between his and looked at her in the eyes, knowing that this helped her feel more grounded and relaxed.

“I doubt she found you boring, Annie. Firstly, you are not a boring person. And secondly, I really think that if she had found you boring, she would have just left.” James said in a quiet voice. The corner of his lips was still turned-up in a half-smile.

Ann stayed like that for a few seconds and calmed her breathing that had quickened during their walk. She took her keys in her purse and opened the door. She stepped inside the building and turned around to look at James with a sheepish smile.

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course I do, Annie.”

“Thank you, James.” She said in a small voice, feeling much more at ease.

 

Ann closed the door behind James as he left her flat. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 11pm. She locked the door and went back into the kitchen. She cleaned everything there, humming a small melody.

Once it was done, she came into her living room and let herself fall on her couch. With a sigh, Ann took her phone and noticed she had some notifications on Twitter. She had a Twitter account which James had made her create years ago so she would get more attention to her art. She used it very rarely since she wasn’t very interested in social media.

 

**_Anne Lister_ ** _ followed you. _

**_Anne Lister_ ** _ mentioned you in a Tweet. _

 

Ann frowned when she noticed that and opened the app. She saw that Anne had shared the link to the gallery website’s article about the exhibition. Along with the link, there was a comment :

 

“ _ A splendid exhibition where you can find some masterpieces by the talented  _ **_@annwalker_ ** ”

 

Ann could feel heat reach the back of her neck and had to read the tweet several times before truly realizing that she was not dreaming. The tweet had already hundreds of likes and retweets and it made Ann feel a little dizzy.

The artist clicked on Anne’s profile and started to have a look. The profile said : “ **_@annelister_ ** _ Lister & Co CEO. Feminist. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. _ ”

She smiled at the quote and started to scroll on the business woman's profile. Anne appeared to be very active on her social media account as she tended to post at least once or twice a day. Ann clicked on the button to start following her account and smiled. She couldn’t even tell why that made her smile like that, but she liked it and she felt good.

 

* * *

  

Anne was looking down at her phone, sitting on her armchair in front of the TV. After taking a sip of wine, she carefully put her glass on the coffee table and took her phone in her hand. There, she saw that Ann had followed her back on Twitter and had liked her Tweet.

The brunette slowly brushed her index on her chin. She went on Ann’s profile page and saw that the younger woman had gained already several tens of followers after her tweet and she smiled at that.  _ I’m more than happy to help her get visibility for her work. _

After checking her social media accounts, Anne locked her phone and finished her glass of wine, which she left on the coffee table as she got up and made her way to her bedroom.

She climbed on her bed, her phone in hand. Sitting against the wall, Anne kept scrolling on the internet and after a while couldn’t help herself but look for Ann Walker’s name on Google.

* * *

Anne was woken up by frantic knocks at the door of her bedroom. Panic made her heart pound in her chest and she almost fell from her bed. Her brain, still clouded with sleep, had trouble processing what was happening and Anne couldn’t find her phone anywhere.

“Anne! Come on! Wake up! I’ve been texting you for the last hour!”

Anne sighed, a long, exasperated and annoyed sigh. She had recognized that horribly high-pitched voice : Marian.  _ Oh no please, not Marian. _

The brunette finally found her phone under her pillow, but when she wanted to look at the screen, she noticed that it was off.  _ No battery _ . She felt around on her bedside table and found her charger so she could plug in her phone. The screen turned on and Anne had to close her eyes as it was like a punch in her retina. After a few attempts, she could finally read the time and saw that it was almost 10am.

“Anne, are you there?”

“Yes, Marian, I am here. Now stop screaming, please.”

Anne could hear her sister having one of her usual outraged coughs and sighed again. She got up from her bed and opened the door.

“What is it this time? And why did you come into my house?”

“We- I can’t believe you forgot. You told me you would come with me to London.” Marian said, moving from the front of the door so Anne could get out of her bedroom.

“To London. What for?”

“Do you even listen to me sometimes?” Marian’s voice expressed all of her despair, much to Anne’s delight.

“Every once in a while. Last time, I believe we were in high school and you told me you would do anything for me if I helped you. There was this guy who was harassing you so you would date him or something.” 

Anne’s face seemed very serious as she said that but she had a hard time holding back a laugh when Marian dropped on a chair with a desperate face. Annoying her sister was one of Anne’s favourite activities in the world.

“Anne, please.”

The brunette took some things to eat and sat at her table. She looked at Marian with a smile, and then started to drink some orange juice.

“I’m joking Marian. I do remember. I’ll be ready shortly.”

Anne heard Marian sigh and kept eating with a slight smile. After she finished her breakfast, she went into her bathroom to get ready.

Fifteen minutes later, Anne and Marian stepped outside as a car was waiting for them. Booth opened the car door for them and both sisters sat in the vehicle.

Anne plugged her phone on the cigarette lighter so it would keep charging. She noticed that her sister was looking at her curiously, so she turned her head and raised her eyebrows, questioning.

“It’s just that you’re always so ready for everything and today you were late, not awake, your phone isn’t even charged.” Marian said with a surprised look.

“I’ve just… Been distracted yesterday evening. I lost track of time using my phone and fell asleep.” Anne tapped on the back of her phone and looked through the window as the car was moving.

Anne had indeed been distracted. When she had wanted to go to bed, she just got lost on social media, looking at Ann’s Twitter and Instagram accounts. She had ended up reading more articles about the intriguing artist. Until she fell asleep on her phone, which died during the night eventually.

Marian seemed to grasp that Anne would not want to talk more about that and changed the subject.

“I’m so glad we’re going to London. It’s been a while, and…”

“Do you think it will rain?” Anne interrupted her, showing Marian her weather app which showed the temperature and the weather to come.

“Oh Jesus, Anne! I can’t believe you!” Marian burst out.

“What? What did I do again?”

“I’m talking to you and you’re obsessed with the temperatures and the weather!”

“I’ll have you know that it’s a very important matter. Seriously, look at the curve of the temperatures in London.”

Anne put her phone in front of Marian who seemed utterly irritated and who hit her forearm. She looked at her younger sister with an offended expression.  _ How can Marian not be interested in this? _

The Lister sisters kept bickering for a while in the back of the car until they both fell silent, clearly annoyed with one another. Booth sighed behind the wheel ; these two would kill him one day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann and Anne both have to deal with some hard stuff on their own. Fortunately, they are going to see each other again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the summary, it sucks I know, my bad.  
> I'm also sorry that I've taken all that time to write this chapter but I've had less time during my internship to write haha.  
> I hope you'll like this chapter, please don't hesitate to tell me what you think here in the comment section or by pm on Tumblr (I'm @true-lexaddict there)
> 
> Once again, I thank odessasbluecoat for her unconditional support <3
> 
> 'Til next time !

Ann couldn’t believe she had to go through this again. These family dinners had always been the things that she hated the most. All of her relatives were self-interested and greedy. Her cousins were always jealous of her and her siblings because they had inherited a huge amount of money. “ _ It’s not well earned money _ ”, Christopher Rawson always used to say.

Ann would be happy to give them all of her money if it could bring her parents and siblings back. She fought the thoughts of Mary and Jay that were trying to drown her and took a long, deep breath. Crying was definitely out of the question, especially when she was just about to see the vultures in her family.

As she was waiting in the street for her sister and brother-in-law to come get her, Ann’s mind started to wander. She was thinking about Anne Lister and how amazed she had been to talk with her twice in the past few weeks.  _ That was beautiful moments. I wonder what she’s… _

Ann’s thoughts were interrupted by a horn just in front of her and she realized that the Sutherlands’ car was right there. She ran to the car and sat inside, smiling apologetically.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you coming.”

“Indeed, we noticed.” George Sutherland said with an annoyed ton.

Ann caught the dark look that Elizabeth threw at her husband but didn’t say anything.

“Hi Ann, I’m glad to see you.” Her sister said with a slight smile, turning over on her seat so she could look at Ann sitting in the back.

“Me too, Elizabeth.”

Ann then looked at her phone and saw a text from James that said “Good luck for today Annie. If you need anything from me, just text or call! ;)”. She smiled at that and typed a quick answer to thank him.

She put the phone in her pocket and looked at the outside through the window. To distract herself from thinking about the hours to come in presence of her family, Ann chose to start a conversation.

“So, where are the kids?” She asked, hoping that her sister would answer and not George, who could be very cold and sharp.

“They’re with George’s mother for the day.” Elizabeth answered, taking a look at her younger sister as she did.

“I guess that’s better for them.” Ann whispered without them hearing.

* * *

 

When they arrived at the Walker’s manor, Ann saw all the fancy cars parked near the building. She sighed and tried to ready herself to face her relatives.

Once George had parked the car, they all got out and Ann smiled when she saw her aunt open the door of the dwelling. She walked to the building and went to the old woman.

“Aunt Ann, I’m happy to see you.” Ann said genuinely. The two people she truly wanted to see were Elizabeth and their aunt.

“Me too, my sweet Ann, I’m very happy.”

The two women hugged for a few seconds and then Ann entered the building. The cool air of the manor should have made  her feel better, but she actually felt like the temperature had increased a little. With a lump in her throat, Ann waited for Elizabeth and George to come inside, since she clearly didn’t want to be the first to enter the huge dining room where she could hear voices.

When Elizabeth opened the door, all the room went to silence for a second. Ann realized she was holding her breath when she passed the door, so she forced herself to breathe. She followed her sister who started to make her way around the table to greet everyone. Ann forced herself to smile as she held the looks that were directed at her.

Ann then took her place at the table, between her aunt and her sister. Slowly, people started to talk in small groups.

“How are you, Ann?”

Ann turned her head to the source of the voice, her cousin Catherine Rawson. She was the only cousin that was nice to Ann and who didn’t constantly question her life choices.

“I’m good, thank you Catherine. How are you?” Ann asked back with a smile, clearly happy and relieved that Catherine was sitting not far from her.

“Good. I wanted to ask you. How went the exhibition opening the other day? I’m sorry I haven’t come, work has been crazy.” Ann’s cousin truly seemed sorry, which generated a warm feeling in Ann’s chest.

“It’s alright, you know that I won’t blame you for something like that.”

A few waiters that had been hired by the family for the occasion entered the room, carrying plates. Ann thanked the young man who placed a full plate in front of her and smiled lightly. She looked at the table and was glad that the relatives who were always awful to her were on the complete other side of the table.  _ This table used to be much bigger a few years ago _ , she thought sadly.  _ No, Ann. No sad thoughts. Don’t give them this enjoyment. _

* * *

 

Ann leaned against the back of her chair as she finished her plate. She took a swallow of water and put down her glass. Rather than talk, she had chosen to listen and stayed silent most of the time. Out of curiosity, she briefly checked her phone and saw a news notification about a brand new Anne Lister’s interview and she was tempted to open it. 

Ann shook her head and restrained herself, trying to pay attention to some of the conversations at the table instead. She could hear her name being said several times at the other side of the table and when she looked toward the Rawsons, because of course the Rawsons were the ones talking poorly of her, she caught Christopher’s eyes and instantly knew he was going to call her out.

“So, tell me, Ann.”

The whole table went silent at the sound of his strong voice and Ann felt all the looks converge to her. She took a long, deep breath and stood her ground. She would not look away from that man.

“Yes, Christopher?”

“Yes, I was wondering. It’s been a while since you started your…” He moved his hand to elaborate. “You know, your painting nonsense.”

Ann’s breath caught in her throat and she could feel her heartbeat quicken. The word “nonsense” really hit her but she tried to hide it.

“What is your point here, Christopher?”

She tried to put all the hate she felt toward him in his name, but Ann wasn’t sure she managed to do that since that only made him smile.

“When will you start to actually work and do something for a living?”

If this had happened only a few weeks earlier, Ann would have been unable to deal with the clear disdain that this distant relative was throwing at her. However, things had changed. It had been a few weeks that Ann felt capable of standing up for herself, even though she was still intimidated by her own family. And the thing that Ann hadn’t realised was that this sudden self-confidence had finally started to grow after she had talked with Anne Lister.

“Since you clearly had not noticed this, Christopher, I am going to explain it. I am an artist for a living. I am exhibiting art pieces in the biggest gallery of the city and people are interested in my work. I am making money and am no burden to this family.”

Ann was surprised herself by the self-assurance that poured in her voice. She looked at her sister for a second, who seemed both shocked and proud at Ann’s attitude.

After a while, the talks started slowly again between various members of the family and Ann stopped being in the spotlight, which was clearly a relief to her. She looked at her hands that were slightly shaking and sighed.

 

* * *

Anne had just finished a visit of a factory, a small one compared to the others, that belonged to Lister & Co and had held a series of meetings about an accident that had happened five days earlier just on the outside of that factory: one of Anne’s employee’s son had been hit by a car in the street and had had to be amputated of one of his leg. The shock had been huge for the workers of the factory since they all knew each other very well and it was a tragedy for the family.

She was with Samuel Washington, who worked as a lawyer for the company, as they walked toward the car. When her chauffeur, John Booth, saw them approaching, he opened the car door so they could enter.

“So, what do you think, Washington?” Anne asked once she was in the car.

“I believe it went well, given the circumstances. We knew that you were not going to be held responsible about what happened, since it wasn’t on your property. That’s indeed what happened.”

“And about my proposition?”

Washington slightly raised his eyebrows as he remembered what Anne had promised to William Hardcastle, the father of the injured kid.

“Paying for the kid’s education?” He asked as he looked at the businesswoman.

“Yes, exactly.”

“I believe it is very generous of you and that it could only improve your image.”

“I don’t want to improve anything other than the Hardcastles’ lives.” Anne said in a firm voice.

 

* * *

 

_ Ten-years-old Anne was laughing as she crossed the street, chasing after a ball. She finally caught it and went back to the small playground where she had been playing with her sister and two of their friends for the past hours. _

_ “You’re rubbish at this game, Marian!” She screamed between laughs. _

_ “Hey! It’s not true!” Marian screamed back, pouting. _

_ “Come on Anne, don’t be mean to Marian.” One of the boys, Jonah, said with a smile. _

_ Jonah was one of the few friends Anne had at school. Her strong personality meant that she didn’t have a lot of friends, but she cherished the ones she had. _

_ “Yeah, right, whatever.” Anne mumbled with a wave of the hand. _

_ They started to play again, on their small improvised football field. Their laughs were ringing out between the trees of the park and Anne was truly having fun. She even stopped being mean to Marian, too busy laughing and running around. _

_ She got the ball and kicked in the ball with all that she had. The ball crossed the playground and went on the empty road. _

_ “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Anne started to say. _

_ “Don’t worry, I’ll get it!” Jonah screamed as he started to run towards the street. _

_ Anne frowned when she heard a screech of tyres not far from where they were and she took a few steps following the boy. Jonah was already on the narrow street to get the ball that had stopped on the other side. _

_ A car suddenly appeared at the intersection, merely meters away. It was a red sports car and the sound of its engine filled the street as it suddenly accelerated. Anne barely had time to scream. The moment a sound left her mouth, the car was already gone and Jonah was lying on the asphalt. _

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the car ride went silently. The chauffeur stopped a first time to let Washington get out of the car. Anne briefly told him goodbye, lost in her thoughts. The recent fuss had brought back painful memories that she was trying to deal with.

She couldn’t erase the memory of Jonah lying on the ground, with blood spreading around him. She had been crying when she had called emergency services and she had been trying to keep Marian from looking at the scene.

Anne still remembered perfectly what the car looked like, even if the events happened decades ago. She had given her testimony to the police, her parents by her side. Right after she had been through the police questioning, she had learnt that Jonah had passed away at the hospital.

She could recall how they had made her testify in court after the police had found the owner of the car, a rich detestable man. She had felt so small and insignificant when she had had to answer the defence lawyer’s questions. What still made Anne angry to this day was knowing that the man responsible for the death of her friend had managed to go with a reduced sentence because he could afford great lawyers.

That experience had shown her the unfair advantage that some people had and that they didn’t hesitate to use it to get away from bad situations, to the detriment of anyone. After all these years and as she had privileges herself, she had always told herself that she would use these privileges to help the people she could help.

Anne was surprised that she had already reached her house. The car had stopped in front of her property and Booth had known better than to disturb her in her thoughts. She got out of the car and thanked her chauffeur before going inside.

The brunette woman let herself drop on her couch, feeling emotionally drained. All those memories were always painful and took a lot of energy from Anne. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and sighed.

It took her several minutes to feel more at peace. Anne opened her eyes and took her phone in her hand. She started to check her social media accounts, to see what might have happened while she was away. Nothing really caught her eyes so she just scrolled on her Twitter feed without paying too much attention.

She stopped after a while when she saw a picture of Ann Walker because the said woman had retweeted an article about an environment issue. That article piqued her curiosity so she opened it and read it carefully. Some really good points were made in this article and the fact that Ann had shared it made Anne feel like that woman was even more interesting than what she had originally thought. Anne smiled to herself and ended looking for information about the artist and more specifically where she could find her in the days to come.

* * *

The day after, as the afternoon was already advanced, Anne arrived in front of the building of which she had found the address after looking Ann Walker up. She took some time to observe the building and smiled by how discreet it seemed. According to what she had found, this was the studio that Miss Walker owned so she could work on her art pieces.

Given the hour of the day, Anne had assumed she could try to visit the place. When she entered in the entrance hall, she noticed some sort of reception desk and guessed that since Ann Walker’s studio was only one floor of the building, it was logical that there was this reception.

“Good afternoon, madam. What can I do for you?” The woman at the desk asked her as she came closer.

“Hello. I was hoping I could see Miss Walker? I know that her studio is here, so maybe she is around.” Anne put one hand on the edge of the desk and looked around before looking right in the woman’s eyes.

She saw that the other woman seemed uncomfortable and shifted on her chair. Anne raised her eyebrows, with a little discreet smirk.

“I’m so sorry, but Miss Walker doesn’t want to be disturbed when she is in her studio.”

“It’s alright, Sally. I’ve got this.”

Anne turned around and saw the very woman she came to see. She felt a smile appear on her face before she would restrain herself.

“Ann. I’m glad to see you.”

“The pleasure is mutual.” Ann said in a very sweet voice.

Anne couldn’t help but stare at the gorgeous artist who walked to come closer to her. She noticed a small paint stain on Ann’s cheek, which the blonde woman had surely missed. Anne felt a sudden urge to reach out to clean the blue paint. She stopped herself before she started to raise her hand and instead chose to warn the artist before doing so.

“You have a little stain on the cheek, nothing much but I figured you would want to know.”

“Oh, really? Well, that’s nothing, it happens all the time and…”

Ann tried to wipe her cheek but didn’t manage to actually remove the paint that still covered some of her freckles. She slightly grimaces as she saw that she couldn’t find exactly where the paint was on her cheek.

“May I?” Anne asked in a low, sweet voice.

As Ann agreed with a slow nod of her head, Anne took a handkerchief out of her pocket, raised her hand and carefully wiped the blue paint. As her thumb lingered a little bit longer on Ann’s cheek, Anne could feel heat radiate from the younger woman in front of her. She then smiled and removed her hand.

“T-thank you.” Ann’s voice seemed a little bit unsure but she was wearing a shy smile.

“You’re very welcome.” Anne said with much more assertiveness in her own voice.

Ann waved her hand towards the elevator, thus inviting Anne to join her. The businesswoman smiled and accepted it. As she started to walk, she noticed that Sally, the woman at the reception desk, was looking at them with a large smile.

As soon as the doors of the elevator closed, Anne looked closely at the artist. The smile on her face became even brighter as she saw that Ann seemed a little nervous, as if she was disturbed by her presence. 

“Thank you for inviting me, Ann. But I hope I'm not bothering you, that's the last thing I would want.”

“Oh? It's nothing, you know. And you're definitely not bothering.” Ann's eyes dropped to the ground as she almost whispered the second sentence.

Before Anne could add something, the door opened with a sound and Ann seemed in a hurry as she quickly got out of the elevator. Anne kept smiling as she had a sense that she was the reason behind it, but not in a bad way. 

Ann walked fast in the hallway, but she couldn't outpace the brunette who was used to walking with an elevated speed. The older woman followed her in a room and she finally directed her eyes on something else than Ann. 

It was clear that this room was where Ann was working on her art work. A lot of drawings and doodles were on the very large desk, and despite the fact that there were some almost everywhere, it oddly felt orderly. Anne came closer to the desk to have a look at some drawings. She heard Ann close the door behind them, so the brunette turned around to face the other woman.

“I’m so sorry about the mess here, I didn’t expect your visit.” Ann’s voice seemed quite unsure as she started to speak.

“Please don’t bother. I’m the one who came here unexpectedly. And quite frankly, I don’t think this room is a mess.”

Anne smiled brightly after those words and she saw something in the blonde’s eyes. She couldn’t really put words on what she saw, but she definitely knew that she liked it.

Ann looked away after a few seconds and proceeded to the couch that was in the room, near the window.

“Please Anne, have a sit here.” She said with a soft voice. “Do you want anything to drink? I don’t have much here, but just in case.”

“It’s alright dear, all that I want here right now is you on this couch with me.”

Anne slightly tilted her head on the side as Ann seemed to blush.  _ Smooth _ , she happily thought. The younger woman sat on the other end of the couch and Anne noticed that she seemed a little nervous.

The brunette came a little closer to Ann, not much, just enough so she could carefully and slowly put her hand on Ann’s. She looked at her in the eyes and, once she had Ann’s attention, smiled a little.

“I told you, it’s alright.”

Her voice was low and soft, and Anne could see that it eased some of Ann’s tension. It took a few seconds but the blonde woman then smiled shyly. After that, the brunette removed her hand and put it on her own lap, her legs crossed.

“I’m sorry, I don’t… usually bring people here.” Ann whispered.

“I get it, this must be an important place for you. I hope I’m not intruding, we could go somewhere else if you’d like.” Anne said, still in a low voice.

“No, here is good, I want you here.” Ann quickly answered.

They stayed silent just for a few seconds, enjoying the other’s presence. It was a comfortable silence even if Ann broke the silence after a while.

“As much as I am very happy to see you, how come you came here?”

Anne didn’t answer right away so she could choose her words carefully. Her fingers slowly tapped her thigh as she was thinking.

“I appreciated our previous encounters and I thought that, for once, it would be good officially plan one instead of letting these things randomly happen. If you want to, I mean.”

“I would love that!”

Ann’s voice came out strong and louder than it usually is and that made Anne smile. She was definitely happy to see such enthusiasm from the younger woman, especially at the mention of them seeing each other again.

Anne stared at the blonde for a moment, and she was amazed by the beauty she found here. The light coming through the window was enlightening Ann's hair the perfect way.

“Alright, could you just… put your number here? I don’t have a lot of time and I fear that duty might call before we could really plan everything.”

The older woman took her phone, opened a new contact page and then gave it to Ann so she could write her phone number. Anne took that opportunity to observe the blonde, noting every detail she could about the artist. Ann saved her contact information on Anne’s phone and gave it back to her.

“What do you have in mind when you say you want to plan something?” Ann asked as she crossed her legs.

Ann’s pale and long fingers went to her hair as she started to play with a strand of her golden curls. The gesture caught Anne’s eyes, who then couldn’t look away from those thin elongated fingers.

“I suppose I could offer you to come to my house and share a dinner. We would be in a calm environment. No one would bother us.”

Anne looked the younger woman in the eyes and she noticed something in Ann’s behaviour.  _ Was that a shiver? _ Anne wasn’t sure, but she could have said that it was an excitement shiver. A small smile appeared on her lips, but that smile then extended to light up her whole face. And God knew it had been a long time since Anne had smiled like that.

 

* * *

 

Ann entered inside James’ flat as soon as she arrived in front of the door. She immediately smelt a mouthwatering food scent and smiled when she heard some music coming from the kitchen. She had to hold back a laugh when James started to sing out of tune.

“Hi, James!” She almost shouted so he would hear her.

The blonde took off her light jacket and put it on the coat rail. She heard footsteps behind her so she turned around to greet her best friend.

“Good evening, Annie! I’m very happy to see you!” He said, hugging her like he always did.

“As I am, James.”

The two of them went into the kitchen and Ann leant on the table as she watched James finish his cooking.

“Can I help you with anything?” She asked, even if she perfectly knew that he would tell her that he got everything covered.

“Nope, everything’s good. You can just chill!”

Ann joined her hands with a smile. She stayed there, bouncing her head at the music.

_ “Behind her back, she’s Gentleman Jack _

_ A Yorkshire lady of renown _

_ Ever so fine, won’t toe the line _

_ Speak her name, gentlemen frown” _

 

“I didn’t know you liked that kind of music, James.”

“Oh but I do! Listen to that, anyone who dislikes this jaunty music is a fool!”

Ann laughed at his exclamation. She was happy to be back with her best friend, knowing that his presence would help her feel more at ease. She was still expecting a text from Anne who was supposed to fix a date for their dinner but she hadn’t received any news.

“Alright, it’s ready. Let’s talk and eat.”

James took the dish and put it on the table. The two best friends sat face to face and Ann started to fill James’ plate first.

As always, they talked as they ate. Ann was happy to listen to James telling her about his day, his work and everything that was going on in his life. These habits that they had had for years had always helped Ann to calm down, to be more relaxed.

* * *

 

After a while, Ann put down her spoon, her desert finished. She took a swallow of water and sighed.

“And then I kept working on that painting I’ve been telling you about. But I’m not very pleased with the result.”

“Sometimes, you’re too hard on yourself, Annie. But I have to admit that despite everything that you’ve always told me, I still don’t know much about art.” James answered with a chuckle.

That made Ann laugh too and she shook her head. In these moments, she truly felt so lucky to have someone like James by her side, no matter what. She had often told herself over the years that without him, she probably wouldn’t be alive.

Just as she was about to answer, Ann’s phone rang once, notifying that she had received a text. On any other day, she would have ignored it, but this time she took her phone faster than James could process. Ann could feel her heart beat faster in her chest and she felt a very strange, warm sensation in all of her body. There weren’t a lot of things that made her feel like that, most of the time it was something about her art.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could be that excited about something on your phone.” James seemed truly surprised but let out a small laugh.

Ann couldn’t even answer her best friend as she saw she indeed had a text from Anne. The text she had been waiting for for so long.

**_Unknown number (9:21) :_ ** _ Good evening Ann, it’s Anne. I’m so sorry I haven’t reached out earlier, it has been a crazy day. _

**_Ann Walker (9:22) :_ ** _ It’s alright, I understand. How are you? _

Ann looked up from her phone to watch James staring at her with a big smile. She felt her cheeks redden and coughed slightly. She wanted to say something but actually had no idea what to say. Another text from Anne saved her.

**_Anne Lister (9:23) :_ ** _ I’m good, thank you, and you? _

**_Ann Walker (9:23) :_ ** _ I’m alright. Thanks for asking. _

**_Anne Lister (9:25) :_ ** _ So about our dinner. How would this Friday do? _

The blonde read the text she had just received and tilted her head on the side.  _ It’s in three days, I can go with that _ . She smiled as she started to type her answer. She was so focused on her phone that she didn’t notice that James was looking at her with a smile, genuinely happy to see Ann that excited about something, even if he had no idea what it was.

**_Ann Walker (9:26) :_ ** _ Sounds great to me! _

**_Anne Lister (9:26) :_ ** _ Perfect, I will text you the address. Goodnight, Ann. _

**_Ann Walker (9:27) :_ ** _ Goodnight. _

Ann put her phone on the table and sighed. That sigh clearly was a content one as she was smiling, and only then she noticed that James was staring at her.

“What?”

“Oh nothing. It’s just that I’ve never seen you texting someone like that. I could even get jealous.” He said with a smirk.

Ann’s face started to turn red and she looked away, feeling a little embarrassed at how carried she had been while texting Anne Lister. That woman really had a hold on her and Ann didn’t know what to do about it. She didn’t even want to think about it, she just wanted to be free for once in her life.

“Please, don’t make it a big deal, ok?” Ann whispered almost shyly.

James seemed to calm down at that and the look he gave her was full of tenderness. Ann felt a warm feeling envelop her, just through that look.

“I promise, Ann.” He said very seriously.

“It’s Anne. Anne Lister.” Ann said softly. “She came to visit at my studio the other day and she told me she would text me to plan a dinner.”

She started to play with her spoon, feeling a little nervous talking about Anne, even to her best friend. Only seconds later, James’ hand was on hers to ease her nervous movements.

“I’m happy to hear about that. She seems to be someone good. And it’s good if you have other friends, cause I’m great but you need other people in your life.” James smiled as he added the last part of the sentence.

“She’s amazing and I really like spending time with her. I feel like she understands me.”

Ann started to smile, which brought light into her eyes. She then started to tell James all about Anne’s visit at her studio. Saying that she couldn’t wait for Friday to come was a huge euphemism.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann goes to Anne's place for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovely people who read my fanfiction! Thank you for being here, as always.  
> Here is a new chapter, sorry it took that long but my internship has been CRA-ZY.   
> Now it's finally calmer, but I can't promise anything about the date for chapter 5.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter <3

Ann looked at her reflection in the mirror. Blue eyes stared back and she had to say that she felt happy with the way she looked. She was wearing tight black jeans with black ankle boots and a white blouse. A blue stone was around her neck, and it only made her eyes look brighter. It had taken her way longer than she would like to admit to choose her outfit. The excitement and nervosity she was feeling had made it very difficult, but she was glad that she had finally found exactly what she wanted to wear.

She carefully brushed her hair to detangle them. She looked over at her phone that was placed on the furniture item next to her, since she was talking with James on speaker.

_ “Alright, I’m gonna have to leave you, Annie. I hope everything goes well, call me whenever you can.” _

“Sure, James. Enjoy your evening, we’ll talk later.” Ann said loudly enough so he would hear her even if she was not very close to the phone.

_ “Bye, I love you.” _

“Love you too.”

Her phone made a sound as the phone call ended and Ann diverted her eyes back to the mirror. She chose to pull up her hair into a bun that wasn’t too loose nor too tight. Ann liked the way it showed her pale neck. She smiled at her reflexion. This was perfect.

The young woman put a little perfume on and then was satisfied about everything. She took her purse and checked the time on her phone. She happily noticed that she was ahead of time, so she didn’t have to rush anything. She started to scroll through the news on an online newspaper she was following. After scrolling for a while, she couldn't tell how much time really, one particular title caught her eyes: “CEO Anne Lister stops partnership with an american heavyweight and drag him down”.

Ann frowned after reading the headline and was about to open the article when she noticed the hour and that it was time for her to go. She got up from her bed where she had sat down to look at the news, went towards the door and got out.

* * *

 

When Ann stepped out of her taxi, she knew that she indeed was in the right place. The house that was standing in front of her was impressive. She smiled at the thought that she was actually seeing Anne Lister’s house and that she was going to see that amazing lady again.

As she approached the house, Ann didn’t notice the car parked in the street with someone inside who was looking at her very closely. The blonde rang at the front gate and she didn’t have to wait long before she could hear Anne’s voice through the intercom.

_ “Ann, please come in.” _

There was a small sound as the gate unlocked and Ann could enter the property. She was walking toward the front door when it opened and Ann smiled when she saw the familiar figure. It took her a few seconds to be able to say something, as she almost zoned out looking at Anne. The tall woman was wearing a sky-blue shirt with her sleeves rolled-up and black pants, her hair caught in a braid that came over her left shoulder. A beautiful watch on her wrist completed the outfit. Ann noticed it looked a little old, but it still seemed in a great state. She recalled seeing it at Anne's wrist every time she had seen her. 

Anne truly looked amazing and Ann could feel her heartbeat quicken just looking at the other woman. 

“Good evening, Anne.” She finally said, her voice wasn’t even shaking, so she felt proud of herself.

Without really thinking about it, Ann took a step towards the other woman and gave her a small hug. She smiled brightly when Anne hugged her back and she had a sense that she was going to spend an incredible evening.

“Hi, I’m glad that you’re here. Please, come on in.”

Ann passed the door and took a moment to look around her. She was impressed by the inside of the house as much as she had been by the outside. She strangely felt at ease here, which usually was not the case when she was in a new and unknown place.

“Here, let me take your belongings, I’ll just put them right there.” Anne said in a sweet voice.

The brunette took Ann’s light jacket and her purse and placed them respectively on the coat rail and on the chest of drawers beside. Both women smiled at each other and Anne proceeded to the living room, inviting the younger woman to follow her.

“You look absolutely stunning tonight.”

Ann blushed at the words and look at herself shyly. She had been very satisfied about the way she looked when she chose this outfit, but hearing it from the other woman was something else entirely. A little nervously, her hand came to her necklace and played with the pendant.

“Oh, you’re too kind.” Ann said in an almost shaky voice.

“Nonsense, I’m just being honest. Please, have a sit.” Anne smiled brightly when she said that and pointed at one of the couches.

The blonde sat down and crossed her legs. When Anne offered to bring her a drink, she politely agreed on a little something. She followed the brunette with her eyes as she went to the kitchen. Once she couldn’t see her anymore, Ann started to look around her.

The room was rather spacious and Ann could tell that during the day, it was bright thanks to the patio doors and big windows. Her long fingers slowly skimmed the armrest of the couch she was sitting on. She really felt at ease in here. The feeling wasn’t very usual to her but she could say that it felt good.

Anne came back with two glasses of wine and with a small smile on her lips. Ann took one of them and thanked the brunette. During that movement, she stared into the brown eyes of Anne. She couldn’t quite put words on what she saw inside those eyes, all she could say for sure was that the look she received lit something inside of her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you like it, it’s a French white wine. Produced in the south of the country.” Anne said in a low voice as she sat down on the other couch, facing her.

The blonde woman carefully clinked glasses to Anne while looking at her with a smile. She knew that her own eyes might have been betraying some of the feelings that had been bubbling in her chest for a while.

She smelt the wine before taking a small sip. The liquid was sweet on her tongue and she was happily surprised.

“This is very good!” Ann exclaimed, looking back at Anne.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Ann took another sip before carefully putting the glass on the table in front of her. She didn’t want to drink it too quickly. She didn’t want anything to go too quickly here.

“So, Ann. Tell me about your past days.”

Ann was a little surprised, since she thought Anne wouldn’t care about her life. After all, the brunette was the CEO of a big company and she was well-respected and even a famous woman. Ann was just an artist with a lot of money and so few people that cared for her that one hand was easily enough to count them.

“Oh… I wouldn’t want to annoy you with that.”

“You could never do such thing. I’m listening.”

Ann couldn’t help but smile brightly as Anne smiled, a warm wave of tender feelings washing over her whole body.

* * *

 

“So basically, I’ve spent most of my time with James during the past few days.” Ann concluded after speaking for a few minutes about her past days.

“He seems like a great person, that James. I haven’t had the chance to really speak with him. But since you have him in such great esteem, I’m convinced he is a good guy.”

“Oh he is. We’ve known each other forever.”

Anne loved the way Ann’s face lit up when she spoke about her best friend. She could really stare at the radiant woman for hours without getting tired of it. Everything about Ann’s face was perfect : from her expressive blue eyes to her well defined jawline. And those lips. As the gorgeous blonde woman had been speaking, Anne had had a hard time looking at anything other than those lips.

“I am glad to see that you have someone like him in your life, Ann.” She finally said after a few seconds.

Anne genuinely was happy to see Ann this beaming when she was talking about that James guy. The younger woman definitely deserved someone like that to support her.

“What about you? Oh, that makes me think, I have seen an article about you just before I left my flat. I didn’t get the chance to read it, but it was about… ending a business partnership and, I think “dragging someone down”?”

_ Oh Lord, she is so pretty when she frowns her beautiful eyebrows. Jesus, Anne. Get a hold of yourself.  _ Anne had to call herself to order so she could organize her thoughts and answer Ann’s question without sounding completely stupid.

“Alright, it is a long story. Are you sure you want to hear about it?” Anne asked, more to give herself time to calm down, even if she did actually want to make sure she wouldn’t bore Ann with her business stories.

“I absolutely do.” Ann said in a firm voice, which made Anne smile even more.

“Alright, so it was a few days ago. Not long before I texted you to ask you to come to dinner actually. The CEO of an American company working in the energy field came to discuss the terms of our partnership. Several meetings had been planned so we’d have the necessary time.”

 

* * *

 

_ Anne was already tired of these meetings before it even started. The partnership she had with the American company, called Cell Corp, had been very useful to her, but she did not like the new guy running it, at all. He was very full of himself and always thought he was superior to her in some ways. The previous CEO of the company had been a far better business partner, but he had retired six months earlier and so for the sake of her own company, she had to go through this one more time. _

_ She knew the CEO had arrived before even seeing him. He was talking loudly in the main hallway of the floor where her office was. It seemed like a lot of people were following him too. _

_ Anne got out of her office to come meet Alexander Carter, the said CEO. She put her mask on as she approached him and shook his hand. _

_ “Mr. Carter, I hope your trip went well.” She said in a polite way. _

_ “Ah, Miss Lister. It was very long and not very interesting, you know. I’m gonna have to hire more young pretty girls to come pour me my whiskey during my flights.” _

_ He roared with laughter as if he had said something utterly funny. Anne had to keep it to herself and stay calm. _

_ “I’m sure it is the only thing you can do to actually have some around.” She barely whispered. _

_ The man didn’t seem to hear what she had just said, so they just went into Anne’s office to sat down and start discussing the important matter. _

 

_ They had been talking for almost an hour and had agreed on some modifications in their partnership contract. _

_ “I would like you to read that too, by the way. I think these informations can be valuable.” _

_ Anne handed the American man a report she had received a few days earlier about some new technology for solar panels. _

_ “Wait, how long is that thing?” He asked, looking at the heavy report. _

_ “Well, as you can see, it is around 200 pages. But it contains some very interesting points.” _

_ “200 pages? And I am supposed to read that?” He asked, in one of the most annoying voice Anne had ever heard - yes, even more annoying than Marian’s. _

_ “Well… Yes, you are.” _

_ Anne felt increasingly annoyed and was really trying to stay calm, despite the fact that this 50-something man was starting to get on her nerves. _

_ “You’ve read it, right? Couldn’t you just do a summary or something?” _

_ The brunette looked at him in shock. She blinked a few times, quite unsure how to respond to that without being meaner than what social conventions authorized. _

_ “I believe that everything in this report is important and that you should read it by yourself.” She finally said in a firm voice, diverting her eyes towards her computer screen. _

_ A silence set in in the room. Anne took that time to calm herself, thinking about how this was necessary for the sake of her company, given how well that partnership had worked for the past years. This was going to be a hardship. _

_ The brunette took that quiet time to keep working on some things she had to get done. From time to time, she could hear a sigh escaping Carter’s lips. She managed to ignore it for at least thirty minutes. It was actually an achievement to have resisted that long. _

_ When another sigh came from the guy, Anne had to say something. _

_ “What is it now? Is there something not at your convenience?” _

_ “It’s just that usually, my secretary reads these things for me and leaves me a summary to read.” He whined. _

_ “If this is a not so subliminal message to ask me to do it, please know that I won’t. Now I think we can put an end on today’s meeting, that will leave you some time to deal with… all of this. We will meet again tomorrow.” _

_ Anne got up from her chair and proceeded to the door. She smiled at the man, without meaning it. She waited for him to gather his things and finally leave and it wasn’t until he passed the door that she felt like she could breathe.  _ Finally _ , she thought. _

_ The next day had been very hard to go through too. But it was nothing compared to the third and last day of their planned meetings. Anne had forced herself to be polite with this Alexander Carter. She had still been firm with him but had tried her best to be civile. _

_ She had been discussing with Carter the advantages and disadvantages of a deal that had been offered to both Lister & Co. and Cell Corp for the past two hours. _

_ Anne took a few steps in front of the huge windows of her office. Looking down the streets, she was thinking about what the deal would mean for her company. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Anne saw Eugénie enter the room. _

_ “I’m sorry to disturb you, madame. This came for you.” _

_ Anne made a small gesture with her hand to indicate to Eugénie that she could put the document on her desk, then looked back at the streets. As Eugénie passed near Carter, Anne’s eyes slowly followed her assistant without moving her head. Anne could see how he was looking at her and especially her buttocks. The French woman put the document down and started to make her way towards the door. Before she could reach it, Carter caught her wrist. _

_ “Bring me a coffee, girl. And by the way, that dress gives you an incredible ass...” The last words were whispered so only Eugénie could hear, but Anne heard him nonetheless. _

_ “Mr. Carter, I think that we have finished for today.” Anne’s voice was calm, yet harsh. _

_ As she said that, Anne came near Eugénie. She looked at the French woman and let her know with a look that she could leave the room. Her hard brown eyes went then to Carter and didn’t leave him. _

_ “I thought we were discussing the deal.” _

_ “We were. We are not anymore.” She said with a emotionless smile. _

_ “What do you mean?” He said in a low voice and with a warning tone. _

_ “I think that we both know what is best for our companies and that we will make the right choice consequently. We should just prepare for that press conference that you insisted on having at the end of this meeting.” _

_ Apparently, her voice was firm enough so he would not question her request. Anne watched carefully as the man gathered his things and left her office. She made sure he actually left and did not stay to go bother her employees. _

_ The brunette checked her watch and saw that she had approximately an hour before the press conference. She took the document that Eugénie had dropped on her desk and opened it. She had requested one of her employees to do some digging for her, about Alexander Carter. That was exactly why she had hired Joseph Booth, her chauffeur’s brother, and she had definitely intended to use his skills. _

_ Anne sat at her desk, opened the envelope that contained the report and started to read. _

* * *

 

_ Anne entered the room and took her place at the table. She blinked a few times, her eyes having trouble adjusting to the flashes of the cameras in front of her. She looked at the stand in front of her as the American businessman came inside the room shortly after her. Once everything was settled, one journalist started with a question. _

_ “As everyone here knows, your companies are both pioneers in the energy field and especially in renewable and green energy. A lot is expected from you and everyone a little bit interested in that matter is waiting for an announcement about your partnership. Mr. Carter, what do you get out of these past days?” _

_ Everyone was looking at the man sitting in front of the crowd, except Anne who was actually watching right in front of her. She was still carefully listening to what the man would have to say. _

_ “I am very glad to have come here. These meetings with Miss Anne Lister have been enriching and I believe that I can accomplish great things with her. Some things are still in discussion, but our relationship has developed.” _

_ Carter’s voice was confident, even full of bragging. It convinced Anne that what she had been planning to say was right on point. She took a long, silent inhalation. Her heart had been pounding in her chest when she entered the room, but it was now beating steadily and calmly. She knew exactly what she was about to say and would have no regrets saying it. _

_ “Miss Lister?” The same journalist asked, looking at her and asking her her opinion. _

_ Anne looked at the small crowd in front of her. She stayed silent for a few seconds, weighing the words she was about to say. _

_ “These past days have been… enlightening to say the least. I have learnt a lot about the new CEO of Cell Corp. Let me share that with all of you.” _

_ As she said that, Anne looked directly at the camera that was filming the press conference. The room was completely silent, everybody was listening very carefully. Anne noticed almost surprisingly that her own heart was not beating as fast as she had thought it would. She felt at peace, because she was about to expose the true nature of that disgusting man. _

_ “I want to be honest. My first thoughts were not very good about Mister Carter who is present here. I disregarded those thoughts because it would be very improper to judge someone on just first thoughts, especially when you have to develop a professional relationship. But it actually appears that my first impression was correct.” _

_ Anne put her hands on the side of the stand in front of her. She scanned the room, looking at as many people as possible. _

_ “First of all, Mister Carter was very disrespectful with some of my employees, and especially women. I can tolerate someone requesting and demanding things, but I cannot and will never tolerate someone, especially a man, who starts to put his unwanted hands on another person, in a workplace, to ask for favors. I will not tolerate a man being disrespectful of women.” _

_ She stopped for another ten seconds, letting her words sink in every person that was in the room for the press conference. Anne knew that people were eager to speak and ask questions as they always were, but with her looks, she could keep the whole room silent. _

_ “I have learnt more about Alexander Carter. I have asked some questions, sent people do some research. Because I want to know the people I may work with, and the more people want to hide things, the more I want to discover every single one of them. That is how I discovered that Mr. Carter here has been accused no less than six times of sexual harassment against women that had been working for him. Some “agreement” has always been found. To keep these women silent when they wanted to speak out loud. I will not remain silent after learning all of that.” _

_ Once again, Anne stopped talking for a while. She had been practicing to make speeches since she was a child and had always been good at it. She was precisely counting on that. _

_ “Lister & Co. is not a very big company, it is true. It is runned by a woman, it is true. But that does not mean that this company will comply to the whims of a man like that. That does not mean that I will comply to the whims of a man like that. This partnership with Cell Corp has been beneficial for Lister & Co. in the past. But I intend to put an end to it, because I won’t work with someone like that. And that is the end of the discussion.” _

_ Immediately after she said those words, the silence broke and everyone started to scream, trying to ask questions. Anne just looked over Eugénie on the other side of the room, and then turned her head to stare in the eyes of the American man. _

 

* * *

 

Anne looked at Ann after she had finished to tell her about what had happened the past few days. All she could see on the blonde’s face was awe. At least she thought it was.

“Oh my God. This is… completely wild.” Ann said in a high-pitched voice.

“I just- I could not let that go. So I choose to do it that way, which my company’s lawyer absolutely hated. I think he is going to quit soon.”

Ann had to suppress a laugh at the expression Anne had on her face as she said that.

“I am so impressed, you have so much courage. I wouldn’t even dare to dream to show that strength and presence.”

Anne moved her middle finger over the surface of her glass of wine. She finished her drink in one swallow and put it on the table.

“I had a lot of training, you know. But I am certain that you have more strength in you that you seem to give yourself credit for.”

The older woman spread her legs a little and leaned forward to put her elbows on her thighs. She was looking at Ann with an intense look, and she knew that the blonde woman in front of her was not insensitive to that look.

“Anyway, these past days have been a little crazy. But that’s one of the reasons why I am enjoying that much spending some quiet time in your company.” Her voice was low as she said that, she knew exactly how to stress some words in her sentences to make it sound seductive but not too much.

The blonde was about to answer when a sound came from the kitchen. Anne slowly got up.

“Dinner’s ready. Shall we eat?” She asked with a smile.

“Yes, I would love that, Anne.”

Anne noticed how Ann’s voice was a little shaky and she dared to think that it was because of how Ann had been troubled, in a good way, by her looks and voice. She tilted her head on the side as went by the dinning table to move one chair aside, inviting Ann to come sit there.

* * *

 

Anne looked closely at the way Ann was slightly tilting her head back to finish her glass of water. Her eyes were stuck on the white throat displayed in front of her. Since their first meeting, Anne had obviously noticed the gorgeous neck and throat of Miss Ann Walker.  _ Who wouldn’t have noticed it? _

She had always had a great self-restraint in front of women she found attractive. But she had to admit that there was something about that cute woman, which reminded her of an actual ray of sunshine, that made it very hard.  _ Wait, did I just thought of Ann as a ray of sunshine? Am I becoming cheesy? _

Her thoughts were interrupted when Ann spoke.

“Are you alright, Anne?”

“Yes, yes of course, I’m alright.” She hastened to answer.

“Thank you again for the meal, it was delicious.” Ann said with her usual sweet voice.

“It was my pleasure, really.”

Anne slowly got up and came closer to the other woman. She smiled at her and offered her hand, which Ann took without hesitation. Both women looked at each other once they were both on their feet. They were close, closer than they had ever been, except when they briefly hugged earlier. Anne had to look down a little, since the blonde was a little shorter than she was.

She was perfectly aware than Ann’s hand was still in hers, but what she was more aware of was the look on the younger woman’s face. She noticed how her pupils were dilated, she noticed that Ann’s breath seemed caught in her throat, she noticed the red that was spreading from Ann’s neck to her cheeks. Anne didn’t want to keep thinking, she just wanted to act. She was about to lean a little more forward, so she could just…

Anne’s phone started to ring and both women jumped back. The moment between them, gone. Anne sighed loudly as she recognized that ringtone - one of the most annoying ever created by the human race -, because it was the special one she used for the most annoying person she had ever met.

“Jesus, Marian.”

Anne looked at her phone that was on the table. She sighed again and heard Ann chuckle.

“I’m so sorry, I have to take this. My sister can be quite annoying and I think she heard the news about the press conference I told you about. If I don’t pick up now, she will never stop and she could actually storm this house to come yell at me.”

“Sure, I understand. Go on.” Ann whispered, her cheeks still a little red.

 Anne reluctantly took her phone and walked away. She answered the phone call and right after, Marian was screaming in her ear.

“ _ Anne, oh my God Anne! What did you do? How could you do that? _ ”

“Marian, hello to you to. I believe you have seen the press conference I was in earlier.” Anne said in a calm voice.

She looked over Ann and saw that the young woman was now in the living room, observing the furniture. She obviously left to give Anne some privacy.

“ _ Of course I did! I mean, I understand why you did what you did, but the way you did it! _ ”

“I know, you disapprove. But I had to do something, and this kind of people only suffer consequences when their reputation suffers. I don’t regret anything, you know I don’t.”

“ _ You’re right, of course you’re right. The guy deserved it. I’m just… Completely in awe. I can’t believe you did this. _ ”

“Look Marian, I’d be happy to discuss what I did, well happy is not really the right word, but another time, please? I am busy.”

“ _ Oh you’re busy? How? Oh Lord, are you with someone? Oh my God, are you with a  _ woman _? _ ”

“Goodbye, Marian.” Anne firmly said as she hung up before her sister could keep talking.

Anne put her phone down after putting it in silent mode so she wouldn’t be disturbed again by another call, especially by another call from Marian. She entered the living room and saw Ann facing her.

“Ann.” She whispered.

Their eyes met again and there was this strange feeling in Anne’s chest, one she hadn’t really felt in quite a long time. She took a few steps to come near the blonde woman.

“I’m so sorry about this.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry.”

Ann’s face was beaming as she smiled. After a while, she lowered her gaze and the smile on her face faded a little.

“It’s getting late. I don’t want to disturb you any longer and I need to get back home.”

“I understand, Ann. You don’t have to worry about it.” Anne reassured her, speaking in a low voice.

 

Once Ann had helped Anne with some of the things on the table, both women were walking towards the door and Ann got back all her belongings. Anne opened the door and saw Ann shiver with the cool air that entered the room. She took a few steps to get to the wardrobe next to the door and started to look inside.

The brunette found what she was looking for and offered a scarf and another jacket to Ann.

“Here, put that on. You’ll feel warmer.”

“Oh no, I won’t steal your clothes!” Ann exclaimed, feeling embarrassed that she didn’t think of taking warmer clothes for the trip back to her home.

“It’s not stealing, I expect you to give them back to me.”

The younger woman carefully took the jacket and put it over her own. Since Anne was taller, the jacket fitted her perfectly over the lighter jacket she had worn when she arrived. She kept the scarf in one hand and stepped outside. Ann stopped just after the still open door and was about to put the clothing item around her neck when she stopped her movement and turned around to face Anne again. Anne who purposely blinked while looking at Ann. She knew that a lot of women could get flustered by that little thing and she did enjoy doing it on purpose. She noticed that Ann was just staring at her without moving. Her heart starting to beat faster as the blonde’s blue eyes dropped to her lips.

Anne moved forward, very slowly as if she was afraid to scare Ann, to come closer to the blonde. With one hand, she took Anne’s, the one that who holding the scarf. When their skins touched, the brunette felt like the temperature increased by a few degrees.

Another step closer.

Her second hand came against Ann’s cheek. The skin she touched there was so soft, she felt like it was the softest thing her fingers had ever touched. The wind was blowing and some of Ann’s hair came blocking her eyes. Anne could not let those hair block Ann’s pretty eyes. With her long fingers, she moved the strand of hair aside to keep the blonde’s face free.

“Anne…”

Her name was barely whispered, it was so low that the wind almost took it away.

“Yes?”

“I- I just…”

“Yes?” Anne repeated.

They were close, so close. Their faces were even closer, their breaths mingling. There was only one thing on Anne’s mind: Ann’s lips. Those perfect, beautifully drawn lips. They seemed so soft, so warm. Anne wanted to taste them, and she felt like Ann wanted it too.

“May I kiss you?”

Anne could not restraint herself. She had to ask, she had to be sure. Her thumb brushed the blonde’s cheekbone and she managed to tear her eyes away from Ann’s lips to look at her eyes instead.

“What?”

“I asked if I could…”

Anne did not get a chance to finish her sentence. She was cut in the middle of it by warm lips over hers. Her eyes closed and all she could do was enjoying the kiss. Those lips she had desired for a while were even softer than she could have ever imagined. She barely deepened the kiss and could both hear and feel a small sigh coming from between Ann’s lips. Her fingers slowly stroke the blonde’s cheek and she felt Ann’s hand on her neck.

Anne had been waiting for that kiss, and she was not disappointed. It was soft, it was pure, it felt like the beginning of something right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooo?? What'd you think?? Let me know here in the review or you can send me messages/asks (even anonymous if you prefer) on my Tumblr (@true-lexaddict).
> 
> I liked the idea of putting a very long flash-back in the middle of the chapter when everyone just wants to have some Anne/Ann, sorry not sorry!  
> The idea of the press conference and Anne's speech comes from the movie Love Actually woooops.
> 
> Special dedication to my lovely Emma (@odessasbluecoat in here, check her fics!!! / @the-cheeky-geek-monkey on Tumblr) <3
> 
> Til next time, love you guys!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann is all over the moon after being at Anne's place. Will it last?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning/afternoon/evening to everybody!  
> Here is the new chapter of Your smile is a piece of art. Sorry for the delay, I was finally enjoying holidays after my crazy long internship!!
> 
> Once again, thank you to everyone who is following this, you are one of the reasons I enjoy writing that much !  
> I hope you'll like this chapter :)

When Ann arrived at her flat, she was still daydreaming about what had happened merely thirty minutes earlier. She tightened Anne’s jacket around her and closed her eyes for a second as she waited for the elevator to go up.

Her flat felt warm when she passed the door. Ann closed it behind her and pressed her back against the door. She sank her nose in the scarf and inhaled the scent coming from it. She could say it was Anne’s because it smelt a little like her.

Ann could not say how much time she spent like that, smelling the scarf and enjoying having a small piece of Anne’s covering her. She eventually felt the need to take it off because the temperature in her flat was too high for her to be this dressed. The jacket was put next to hers, but she kept the scarf in her hand as she made her way towards the bathroom.

Once she had finished getting ready for bed, Ann went inside her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She looked over at the ceiling and smile. With her fingertips, she grazed her lips, thinking about that amazing feeling of Anne’s lips against her own. _I can’t believe I kissed her. It was amazing_.

Her phone rang next to her and she cautiously took it. Her smile grew bigger as she saw she had a text from Anne. Her heart started to beat faster in her chest and she almost wanted to giggle at the thought of the other woman’s name.

**_Anne Lister (11:11) :_ ** _I hope you are home by now. Thank you again for this evening._

**_Ann Walker (11:12) :_ ** _I arrived ten minutes ago. Thank so much, I had the greatest time at your place with you._

**_Anne Lister (11:13) :_ ** _It had been a long time since I last enjoyed a night like that and you are the reason why._

**_Ann Walker (11:15) :_ ** _I’m happy to hear that and I want you to know that you’re the reason I am currently smiling._

**_Anne Lister (11:16) :_ ** _I hope I can see that pretty smile of yours again soon. Have a good night, Ann._

**_Ann Walker (11:18) :_ ** _I’m sure you will. Good night!_

Ann kept her phone close to her chest for a while. The events of the evening were playing in her head and she couldn’t help but smile more. She finally put her phone on the nightstand next to her bed and got under the blanket.

She fell asleep, clutching the scarf Anne had lent her, and she definitely slept way better than she had in a long time.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Ann almost fell from her bed. She sat up straight and looked around her, completely lost. It took her a few seconds to realise that she was in her bedroom, in her bed. She blinked a few times, trying to process what was happening.

“Annie, you there?”

Ann recognized James’ voice and it suddenly hit her. He was supposed to come to her place so they could hang out for a while. She looked at her phone and saw that it was already 10:15. _How?_ Ann had never overslept like that, she usually had trouble sleeping, so she was definitely surprised to see that it was this late.

Ann managed to untangle herself from her blanket and got out of her room to go open the door. She was still in her pyjamas, but that was nothing new to James.

When she opened the door, James was looking in the hallway. He turned his head at the sound of the door opening.

“Hi An- Annie, were you still sleeping?” He said with a smirk while looking at her.

“Shh, yes sorry. Just come in, I’ll be ready soon.”

James chuckled as he entered the room. He kissed her cheek and went in the living room to sat on the couch, letting her time to go take a shower and get dressed.

Ann came back in the room later, feeling much more awake than she was earlier. She finished braiding her hair and went to sit next to James.

“I’m so sorry, James.”

“It’s alright, I take it you slept well last night.” He said with a smile.

His eyes still had a light of amusement, but he seemed genuinely happy that Ann slept better. He knew about her sleep issue she had had for years.

“I did, yes. I didn’t set up an alarm because I thought I would be awake earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

James put down the magazine he had been reading while he waited for Ann to come back. He shifted a little so he would face Ann.

“So. Do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?” Ann asked, frowning.

“Last night, of course! You know… your date with miss Anne Lister.”

“It was not a date! It was just a lovely dinner, with a lovely woman, and…”

“Hmmm, sure.”

James clearly sounded not impressed and Ann knew she was blushing because he was looking at her cheeks. She felt like the temperature was much higher than it was earlier. She cleared her throat and looked away.

She was about to answer when her phone started to ring, again and again, which could only meant that she was receiving a lot of texts and notifications. Ann frowned even more, which made a crinkle appear between her eyebrows.

The blonde got up and went inside her room to take her phone, and at least have a look at it and then put it on silent mode so she could actually enjoy James’ presence without being bothered all the time.

She sat back down next to her best friend and checked her phone. There was at least ten new messages on her phone, with a lot of capital letters and exclamation marks apparently.

“What in the-”

Anne stopped mid sentence when she saw a link that her cousin Catherine had sent her. She clicked on it and it opened an internet tab leading to an article of a people magazine. Ann stared at the headline and the picture that came with it with wide eyes.

_“ANNE LISTER CELEBRATES THE END OF A PARTNERSHIP BY BEDDING RICH ARTIST ANN WALKER”_

The picture showed the two of them kissing in front of Anne’s house. It felt like a huge invasion of their privacy and Ann felt like she was about to be sick. All colour had left her face, she could hear her heart beating in her ears. She could barely hear James’ voice as he started to speak, even given how close he was to her. He was looking over her shoulder to see the article on her phone.

“Wow, Annie, you didn’t tell me that you guys… Annie?”

All coherent thoughts had left Ann’s head, it was just noise, incredibly loud noise that did not seem to stop. Her throat tightened and it became hard to breathe.

She barely felt James' hands on her face, so she was facing him. Her vision was blurred. The phone she had been holding in her hand fell and crashed on the ground with a loud noise, but it sounded extremely far away to Ann. 

“Annie, look at me. Listen to my voice. It's alright. I'm here, ok? I'm not leaving you.”

Ann could tell he kept talking to her because she could distinguish that his lips were moving. However she had trouble hearing him because of all the buzzing in her ears.

Thoughts came crashing inside her head like waves against a cliff. It was messy, loud and seemed unstoppable. What was she going to do? What would Anne think of her? What would her own family think of her? People were going to talk about her and never stop. Voices were screaming inside her skull.

Ann put her hands over James' that were still on the sides of her pale figure. She closed her eyes, pressing her eyelids together.

It took a while, but she eventually felt like she could breathe again. The pain in her chest was becoming more bearable. Finally, she was making sense of the words James was still speaking.

“Breathe, Ann. Take all the time you need. I won't leave you.”

His fingers softly brushed her cheeks to dry the tears that had cascaded. When she opened her eyes, all she could see on James' face was concern and worry, not mockery like she had imagined.

“I'm so sorry, James.” She barely whispered in a weak voice.

“You don't have to be, Annie. I'm sorry I started to joke at the beginning.”

Ann looked down and saw her phone on the ground. It kept buzzing and ringing from time to time. The screen turned on as someone was calling her, and Ann felt like a huge electric shock in her whole body.

James looked at the phone himself since he noticed her reaction. He obviously recognized the face that was displayed on the screen since it was Anne Lister.

“I can't take it, I can't take it, I can't talk to her.”

Ann's voice came out as a whimper and it reflected how she felt after reading just the headline of the article that was completely invasive and false, on top of that.

“Alright, don’t take it. You have to do what feels right for you, Annie.”

She stayed silent as James pushed the phone away from them. After that, his hand came back where it had been on her cheek. It grounded her, anchored her and after a while, she almost felt like she could breathe normally.

However, Ann’s world was still falling apart. Everything around her seemed different now, darker, and she had a feeling, like some things were spying on her.

She spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch, James close to her, and despite his best efforts, nothing could bring a smile to Ann’s lips.

 

* * *

 

_~ Earlier that day ~_

Marian sat on one of the couches in the main living room, in the huge Lister’s house. She knew Anne had arrived earlier than she did, and that she was probably in her old room upstairs. Anne had kept that habit, every time she was at the manor, she went in her old bedroom and could stay there for hours. As much as she wanted to go see her, Marian knew best. The curiosity was still eating her up though and she definitely wanted to know who was this mysterious woman Anne had been with the day before. _Is it someone I know? Meh, I don’t know, is there someone I know who can reach her standards? They’re pretty high!_ she thought while playing with a pen.

Her phone rang with an upcoming notification. Marian took the device in her hand to look at it and noticed that it was about a new article published. As she was a very stressed person, Marian had subscribed to the name “Lister” on almost every search engine so she would get a notification every time something was published about her family.

Her heart missed a beat when she read the headline.

“Anne Lister celebrates the end of a partnership by bedding rich artist Ann Walker.” She read out loud. “Oh my… Oh Lord.”

Marian opened the article with a trembling finger. _Ann Walker ? So she was with Ann Walker yesterday._ She almost felt relieved when she saw that the picture in the article was _just_ the two women kissing, and not something worse. Reading the first lines, she started to feel angry, instead of the initial fear. She hated the way her sister’s privacy had been violated.

She got up from the couch and almost stumbled on Argus, the huge hairy dog was lying on the ground. “Oh, Argus, I’m so sorry!” She said.

She started to make her way towards the stairs when she heard a very loud noise coming from Anne’s bedroom. Another followed right after and Marian figured that Anne was throwing things on the ground or perhaps the walls.

“Anne?” Her voice was a little shaky because, truth to be told, Marian was kind of afraid of Anne’s wrath.

“Now is not the time, Marian!”

The younger sister gulped silently and stayed where she was, in the middle of the stairs. She wanted to be there for her big sister. They might well have a troubled relationship, but Marian still felt like her sister was the most important person in her life.

* * *

Anne was furious. She was so furious that she could barely see. This article was completely and entirely wrong, false and degrading to both her and Ann. She had read it just before hearing Marian’s voice in the stairs.

The brunette looked down and saw the pieces of the shattered vase she had thrown on the ground. The water was spreading on the wooden floor around the few tulips that her aunt had bought her.

With a long sigh, Anne walked to the other side of the room, where she had thrown her phone just before the vase. When she picked it up, she noticed that the screen was shattered but she did not think much of it.

She sat on the edge of her bed and tried to call Ann. Each long ring in her ear made her feel even worse. After what felt like an eternity, she reached Ann's voicemail. Hearing her voice made Anne's heart ache a little and she had to work hard to control both her breathing and her own voice.

“Hi Ann, it's me. Listen, I want you to know that I'm utterly sorry about the article. Please call me whenever you can and want.”

Anne finished the call and had to restrain herself from throwing her phone again. Instead, she just put it slowly in her bed. She wanted to scream, to break something. She had always had a reputation with women, as there was a time when she did not bother to hide her conquests. When she became CEO of Lister & Co., she had started to change a little, until she met Mariana and that had been the biggest change in her behaviour. After her, there had been other women of course, but it was with Ann that Anne felt a new real connection. She would not dare yet to compare Ann to Mariana, but she knew that she already had very strong feelings towards the sweet and pretty blonde woman.

* * *

During the day, Anne tried several times to call Ann. When her fourth call got to voicemail straight away, she closed her eyes and threw her phone another time on her couch.

“Oh my God, Anne, get a hold of yourself!” She screamed while pacing in her own house.

At some point in the afternoon, she had gone back to her place since she was not feeling like staying with her sister, her aunt and her father. She had pretended she had something work-related to do and suddenly left. Anne had grown tired of the looks Marian had kept giving her.

The brunette finally sat on the couch and joined her hand, trying to anchor herself and calm down.

“It’s alright, she is probably busy and all of that annoyed her, that is all.”

She almost laughed because she sounded way too desperate over an article. She had never been that affected by some random tabloid. _Ann gets so worried by some things, I don’t want this to be another one of her problems, she doesn’t deserve that._

Her thought were completely interrupted by the doorbell. Anne got up to go see who this was, she was definitely hoping that it was one specific blonde woman. Her disappointment was incredibly huge when she saw that it was only her sister.

The older woman opened the door nonetheless, because she was too preoccupied to actually be mad at Marian.

“Marian, what are you doing here?”

The other woman bypassed her to come inside the house. She put her hand on Anne’s arm and tilted her head.

“I saw how you left in a hurry and I thought I’ll just drop by. We don’t have to talk or anything, but just… I wanted to be here.”

Anne sighed but could not bring herself to tell Marian to leave, since she actually liked the idea of having her here. She was shocked to realize that but did not comment on it. She just closed the door and went back on her couch. A quick look to her phone notified her of the texts she had received from Eugénie, who was working on turning down journalists who wanted to talk to Anne.

“I’m not in the mood to talk, Marian.”

“Oh, I know. I have things to do anyway.”

“Like what?”

“Like reading this amazing book I’ve bought.”

To support what she was saying, Marian took a book from her bag and showed it to Anne who just shook her head and kept her mouth shut.

 

The two sisters stayed in the living room for what seemed an eternity for Anne. She noticed how her younger sister looked at her from time to time, because she was anything but discreet about it.

Anne was pondering and the thoughts did not seem to want to stop crashing in her head. She was so absorbed that when her phone started ringing, she got scared and jumped on her feet. It took her a few seconds to actually get her phone and her heart started to beat much faster when she saw Ann’s name written on the screen. Ignoring Marian’s look, she answered the call and walked away.

“Ann! Ann, I am so glad you called. Listen, I am-”

“ _Hello, Miss Lister._ ”

The voice she heard was not Ann’s at all, still sounded familiar.

“ _We’ve met before, my name is James Mackenzie, I’m a friend of Ann’s. We met at the gallery, very briefly._ ”

_Oh, right, that’s where I had heard this voice before_ , she thought. However, she was mostly concerned as to why it was not Ann who was talking.

“Is Ann okay? I may have been a little over… insistent, with my earlier calls.”

“ _She is fine, and she doesn’t want to speak with you and it would be best if you stopped to try to reach out._ ”

The words hit Anne like a truck. James’ voice did not seem cold or angry, as one would have expected with such words.

“You’re with her, right? Please, I just want to say a few words and apologize, it won’t be long.”

There was a small silence after she said that, and she could only assume that this James was maybe talking with Ann. Anne was literally hooked up to her phone, almost afraid that it would disappear and that she would lose the very tiny connection she currently had with Ann.

“ _I’m sorry, she can’t right now. Goodbye, Miss Lister._ ”

“No, wait, please-”

Anne closed her eyes when the phone call ended after James hung up. She put her back against the wall, and stayed there in the hallway, in silence. She had never hated paparazzis more than in this very moment. Even if she had not known Ann Walker for a very long time, she had felt a real connection with that woman.

Eventually, Anne went back in the living room to find Marian looking at her. She sat on the couch and look at her phone, mostly to avoid eye contact with her sister.

“So, I guess it’s all over.”

“I am sorry to hear that, Anne.”

“Meaning the discussion about… all of that is over too, Marian. So please, stop talking about it.”

She knew she was being kind of unfair to Marian who barely had talked since she arrived, for once, but she was currently too hurt to show fairness. There was a moment of silence before Marian spoke again.

“Have you seen about that cyclone that is approaching the US?”

Marian closed her book after saying that and looked at Anne. She raised her eyebrows, because her sister was looking at her with surprise.

“Yes, of course.”

A very small smile appeared on Anne’s lips and she moved on the couch to be a little closer to Marian.

“I have followed news about it as soon as scientists saw it forming.”

And just like that, she started to talk about a cyclone, to her sister who seemed genuinely interested for once.

 

* * *

 

Working was a great way for Anne to stay focused on something other than Ann. Thus, she had spent the following days working sometimes more than sixteen hours a day in her office.

After finishing a report, Anne checked her watch. Mariana's watch. It was past 10pm. She pushed herself away from her desk, sitting on the rolling chair. Without any surprise, she saw that there was no one else in the building.

Two weeks had gone since she had gotten that call from James Mackenzie saying that Ann Walker did not want to talk to her ever again. The pain was still sharp in Anne's mind and heart, and that was the reason why she almost drowned herself in her work. It had been a bargain for the company, since she managed to get herself an invitation in a very important international conference in Paris, a trip she had to plan since it was getting closer every day.

Working was a great way for Anne to keep her mind shut and actually do something productive. When she was at home, she mostly felt like she had no energy whatsoever. It was something that annoyed her to no end, especially since Marian kept randomly dropping at her place. Another reason why Anne stayed at her office as much as she could.

 

The travel home went smoothly, as usual. Lately, she had been driving her own car instead of asking Booth to drive her around. It allowed her to have more peace without seeing anyone. Her fingers drummed slowly against the wheel as she was waiting for the entrance gate to automatically open. In her rear-view mirror, she noticed a car that was parked in the street. Now that she was thinking about it, Anne remembered seeing this car on a regular basis. She knew however that it did not belong to any of her neighbours.

Anne frowned and parked her car inside her property. She then approached the entrance gate to have a better look at the car. It was a very random car really, it could go completely unnoticed. It was grey, a very random colour. When Anne was about to go inside and forget about it, she saw a movement behind the window. The streetlights reflected on what clearly looked like a camera.

Then it hit her. The pictures of Ann and her, the angle in which they had been taken. It was precisely as if someone in a car had taken them. Anne gritted her teeth and went out in the street. She walked right towards the car and as she came closer she could finally see the man behind the wheel. She saw that he was moving, putting away his camera and that made her angrier.

She knocked on the window and reiterated when the guy was taking too long to her liking. He finally opened it and looked at the woman with what he probably thought was an innocent look.

“Good evening, miss. What can I do for you?”

“What you can do for me is explain what you are doing here.” Anne said in a strong voice.

Now that the window was open, she could actually see inside the car and noticed the food that was inside, and all the camera equipment.

“I’m just taking a break from a long ride, I was starting to feel tired and chose to stop here to rest. I’m sure you are familiar with the feeling.” The man answered in an unctuous voice.

“Oh you’re right, it’s true that this specific street seems to be the right way for anybody who’s just in transit.”

Anne leaned forward and put her elbow on the car door. Tilting her head so she could meet the man eyes, she knew that she was intimidating him because he looked away.

“Also, I can’t help but notice that you have a lot of food in here. It really looks like you planned to stay here for a while. And that… that camera is impressive.”

The brunette extended her hand to the guy and her gaze was so intense that the man just felt like he had to obey the silent order. He took the camera and gave it to Anne. As soon as she got her hand on the equipment, she took a small step back and observed the device.

“That is great equipment for sure.”

Before he could protest, she started to look at the photos he had taken and noticed that all of them were her house and herself going out or in. She went back until she saw the pictures of Ann and her kissing. Anne raised her eyes to look at him again.

“That is very interesting, sir.” It was her turn to have such an unctuous voice.

She proceeded to give it back to the guy but let it fall just before he could put his hand on it.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I’m so clumsy!” 

“What the-”

When he tried to open the door, Anne leaned on it to block it. She crushed the camera with her foot and looked at the guy.

“Lord, I am so sorry, just-”

She stopped mid-sentence to look right at him this time. Her eyes seemed way darker than they usually were, but she had no expression written on her face.

“Now, get the hell away from here and I better not see you again or it won’t be the camera that takes all the damage.”

Anne’s voice was so cold that all heat seemed to leave the young man’s face. He silently nodded and took his car keys in a trembling hand.

She had rarely seen a car leave the street that fast. Once the initial satisfaction faded, a wave of bitterness actually washed over her. Her eyes dropped to the pieces of the camera on the ground. She noticed that the memory card had not been destroyed by the motion so she leaned to pick it up.

Walking back to her house, Anne could not look away from the small card. She went inside and locked the door behind her. The familiar environment of her home did not feel as comforting as it used to before. Assailed by memories that were both incredibly beautiful and also sad because they were just memories. Ann’s laugh was still ringing within the walls.

Anne shook her head and dropped the memory card on the small table in front of her couch. She took her laptop as she sat down and turned it on.

“This has to stop, Anne.” She whispered to herself.

As soon as her computer was on and ready to work, she opened a new tab on the internet and started to do some research about her upcoming trip to France. Usually, she would have asked Eugénie to do this work, but lately she tended to do most of the work herself since it kept her mind busy. Despite the recent events, or maybe it was because of the recent events, she was looking forward to this business trip. She had always loved Paris - France in general, really - and she was happy to go back there. She could definitely take some time to make this trip a little bit about pleasure rather than just business.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, a few hours after Anne had scared her paparazzi off, Ann was spending time at her cousin’s house. Catherine had invited her for tea and James had convinced Ann to go spend some time there, claiming that it would take her mind off things.

The blonde woman looked at the steam over the warm cup of team she held between her hands. She was feeling extremely tired since the sleep did not seem to want to take her any night.

“I was thinking that we could go to the opera one day. I have these tickets I can use on any day, you know?”

Catherine’s voice interrupted Ann’s thoughts and she raised her eyes so she could meet Catherine’s.

“Yes, why not.”

She saw in her cousin’s eyes that she was worried. Catherine had been a true support, almost as much as James had been, even if it was the first time they saw each other since the pictures got released.

“James told me that you were drawing again a little. I’m glad you could find some inspiration.”

The smile Catherine offered her was bright and seemed genuine and it actually warmed Ann’s heart a little. She found the strength in her to smile back.

“Indeed, I went back to drawing a few days ago. It’s not much really and it’s mostly for myself.”

“Art doesn’t have to be shared after all.”

Ann nodded, blow on her cup of tea to try to cool it down and then took a sip of tea. The liquid warmed her up from inside and in that specific moment, she was feeling at peace. She cherished that moment, since they had been so rare in the past weeks.

“Thank you for being here, Cathy.”

“Sure, it’s normal, Ann. I’m your cousin.” Catherine said with a smile. “I know things have been hard for you, and I’m truly happy that it’s starting to get better. And I’m sorry that some people in the family gave you a hard time.”

“They still are.” Ann’s voice was barely a whisper, and she could swear that Catherine did not even hear her.

Some of Ann’s relatives had been awful to her after the article was published. Apparently the homophobia was strong in the family and the pictures completely outed Ann to them. She had known she was gay since she was a teenager but it took her years to come out to her sister and her cousin. Both of them had been very supportive, which had ease some of the worry Ann was constantly feeling.

However, Ann had always had a sense that coming out to her abusive relatives was not a good idea. Given the recent events, she knew she had been right.

* * *

  _Ann felt her phone vibrate in her pocket so she took it and saw that it was Catherine calling. She straightened up so she was seated next to James, on his couch._

_“Hi Catherine.” She said after picking up._

_“_ Hey Ann, I’m glad to hear your voice, how are you? _” Catherine said over the phone._

_“I’m ok, I guess. Did you go to the family reunion?”_

_“_ Yes, I did. _”_

_Ann did not have a great feeling about it, but she still wanted to know._

_“So, what was said there?”_

_“_ You sure you want to know? _”_

_Doubt crept in her mind but she answered positively nonetheless._

_“_ Well, the whole discussion was about you. It’s like their lives are all so insipid that they had nothing else to talk about. _” Ann could hear the anger in Catherine’s voice and that was the only thing that made her feel a little better. “_ I will save yourself the details, but they were mostly saying that you were lost and seeking attention, and that it was the only way you found. And they said that the fact that you weren’t there was clearly a way of betraying the family. _”_

_The words hit Ann hard. So many things were tumbling out of her head, she had things she wanted to say, to answer to what they had said. However, as always when confronted like that, her emotions were so strong that she could not find actual words to say and felt herself incapable of answering, even indirectly to Catherine._

_“I- I just… Thanks, Catherine, bye.”_

_She just hung up, and actually almost missed the button on her phone because of how her hands were shaking._

_“I… hate them. I hate them, James.”_

_James put his arm around Ann’s shoulders and slowly pressed his head against hers._

_“They deserve it. It’s ok to hate them.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, a little dramaaaa  
> Woops
> 
> Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, here or on my Tumblr account (@true-lexaddict).  
> Til next time !


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